Aggravated is built on the Latin root gravis "heavy," as in gravity, and with the prefix ad-, it means "to make heavy." So robbery is one thing, but aggravated robbery is not only robbing someone, but also causing physical harm, and the punishment would be harsher than for simple robbery.

Where does the word aggravate originate?

From Latin aggravatus, past participle of aggravare (“to add to the weight of, make worse, oppress, annoy”), from ad (“to”) + gravare (“to make heavy”), from gravis (“heavy”).

Is aggravation a form of anger?

Although aggravate has been used to refer to rousing someone to anger since the 17th century, it has been the object of disapproval only since about 1870.