--- description: FBI Director James Comey sent people running for their dictionary after he uses the word 'gravamen' to describe the Watergate scandal. title: People Are Searching for 'Gravamen' after Comey's Hearing image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt140414dd5428e3b2/6988bf134dd215a63defe300/comey.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [U.S.](/section/us/) ## U.S. Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Congress](/tag/congress/) ## Congress Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # People Are Searching for 'Gravamen' after FBI Director James Comey Uses the Word to Describe Watergate by [Katy Steinmetz](/author/katy-steinmetz/) ## Katy Steinmetz Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Mar 20, 2017 6:39 PM CUT  FBI Director James Comey speaks during the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence hearing on Russian actions during the 2016 election campaign, on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., on March 20, 2017. FBI Director James Comey speaks during the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence hearing on Russian actions during the 2016 election campaign, on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., on March 20, 2017.Nicholas Kamm—AFP/Getty Images by [Katy Steinmetz](/author/katy-steinmetz/) ## Katy Steinmetz Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Mar 20, 2017 6:39 PM CUT FBI Director James Comey testified before the House Intelligence Committee on Monday, enlightening lawmakers about [the agency’s intelligence gathering](http://time.com/4706646/fbi-russia-james-comey-testimony/ "undefined") — and broadening Americans’ vocab in the process. When Rep. Adam Schiff (D-MA) asked Comey what he thought the main offense in the Nixon-[Watergate](http://time.com/vault/issue/1973-06-04/page/1/ "undefined") controversy was, Comey responded that, “As I recall it… the _gravamen_ was an abuse of power, including a break-in.” As a result, [Merriam-Webster](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/gravamen "undefined") saw an [enormous spike](https://www.merriam-webster.com/news-trend-watch/the-gravamen-was-an-abuse-of-power-20170320 "undefined") in lookups for _gravamen —_ a noun that refers to “the material or significant part of a grievance or complaint.” The Oxford English Dictionary defines the word as “the particular part of an accusation that bears most heavily on the person accused.” On Monday, Comey also testified that the FBI’s work had not borne out the gravamen of President Donald Trump’s [accusation against President Obama](http://time.com/4705639/trump-wiretap-obama-update/ "undefined"), after Trump tweeted allegations that the former Commander-in-Chief [had wiretapped him](http://time.com/4706720/james-comey-donald-trump-barack-obama-wiretap "undefined"). “I have no information that supports those tweets and we have looked carefully inside the FBI,” Comey said. This bit of legalese comes from a Latin adjective, _gravis_, which means heavy. And the same root can be found in words such as _gravity,_ _grieve_ and _grave_ (the adjective that means “serious”). ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4707021/comey-hearing-gravamen-watergate/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4707021/comey-hearing-gravamen-watergate/"},"headline":"People Are Searching for 'Gravamen' after FBI Director James Comey Uses the Word to Describe Watergate","datePublished":"2017-03-20T18:39:28.000Z","dateModified":"2026-03-31T10:48:53.572Z","description":"During his testimony before the House Intelligence Committee","url":"https://time.com/4707021/comey-hearing-gravamen-watergate/","keywords":["Congress","Obama","language","justice","trump","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt140414dd5428e3b2/6988bf134dd215a63defe300/comey.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Katy Steinmetz","jobTitle":"","url":"https://time.com/author/katy-steinmetz/"}],"articleSection":"U.S.","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt140414dd5428e3b2/6988bf134dd215a63defe300/comey.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"US-INTELLIGENCE-POLITICS-RUSSIA","caption":"US-INTELLIGENCE-POLITICS-RUSSIA","creditText":"Nicholas Kamm—AFP/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/us/","name":"U.S."}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/congress/","name":"Congress"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4707021/comey-hearing-gravamen-watergate/","name":"People Are Searching for 'Gravamen' after FBI Director James Comey Uses the Word to Describe Watergate"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"FBI Director Says There's 'No Evidence' Obama Wiretapped President Trump","description":"The Department of Justice and the FBI have \"no evidence\" to support President Trump's unfounded and widely-dismissed claim that Barack Obama wiretapped him, FBI Director James Comey said Monday.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/SlHcuyph/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2017-03-20T15:51:55.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/SlHcuyph.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/4707021/comey-hearing-gravamen-watergate/","duration":"PT1M19S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/4707021/comey-hearing-gravamen-watergate/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```