gradient 
II. n. 1. Same as grade 1 , 2. 2. In physics, 
the rate at which a variable quantity, as tem- 
perature or pressure, changes in value: as, 
thermometric gnulii-iit ; barometric gradient. 
Corresponding to the gradient* of the normal tempera- 
tures of latitude there are also gradient* of normal pres- 
sure of latitude, with corresponding wind velocities and 
directions. Report of Chief Signal Officer (1885), 11. 280. 
gradienter (gra'di-en-ter), H. [< gradient + 
-ec 1 .] A small instrument used by surveyors 
for fixing grades, and for many other purposes. 
It consists of a small portable telescope, to be mounted 
on a tripod having a horizontal and a vertical motion, a 
graduated vertical arc, and a spirit-level. 
Gradientia (gni-di-en'shi-a), u.pl. [NL. (Lau- 
renti, 1768), neut. pi. of'L. gradien(t-)s, ppr. 
of gradi, walk, step: see gradient."] Reptiles 
that walk, as distinguished from those that leap 
or are salient. At first (in Laurenti's classification) 
the Gradientia included, besides the gradient reptiles 
proper or lacertilians, such amphibians as newts and sal- 
amanders ; with the latter excluded, Qradientia is some- 
times used as equivalent to Lacertilia. 
gradin, gradine (gra'din, gra-den'), n. [< F. 
gradin = It. gradino, a step, < L. gradus, a step : 
see </ra<?ei.] 1. One of a series of steps or seats 
raised one above another. 
Subsequent excavations disclosed In front of the large 
bas-relief a slab of alabaster, . . . cut at the western end 
into steps or gradinen. Layard, Nineveh, v. 
2. An altar-ledge or altar-shelf; one of the 
steps, ledges, or shelves above and back of 
an altar, on which the altar-cross or crucifix, 
flower-vases, candlesticks, etc., are placed. The 
term gradin seems to have been recently Introduced 
from the French. Before the Reformation the simple 
name shelf was used. The gradin or gradins collectively 
are sometimes called a superaltar, or by some confusion 
of terms a retable (this being distinguished from a rere- 
doi). 
3. A toothed chisel used by sculptors, 
gradino (gra-de'no), n. ; pi. gradini (-ne). [It. : 
see gradin.] 1. Same as gradin, 2. 2. A 
piece of ornamentation, painting, sculpture, 
or the like intended for the front of an altar- 
ledge or raised superaltar: as, a gradino of 
mosaic. 
The four small bas-reliefs of the Nativity, the Annun- 
ciation, the Epiphany and the Presentation, in the gra- 
dino, are sweet and tender in feeling, and simple in com- 
position. C. C. Perkins, Italian Sculpture, p. 143. 
gradual (grad'u-al), a. and n. [= F. graduel = 
Pr. Sp. Pg. gradual = It. graduate, < ML. "gra- 
dualis, only as neut. n. graduate, also gradate, 
gradalis (> ult. E. grail 1 ), a book of hymns and 
prayers, such as were orig. sung on the steps 
of a pulpit, < L. gradus (gradu-), a step : see 
grade*. For the noun, cf. grail 1 ."] I. a. 1. 
Marked by or divided into degrees ; proceeding 
by orderly stages or sequence; graduated. 
Flowers and their fruit, 
Man's nourishment, by gradual scale sublimed, 
To vital spirits aspire. Milton, P. L., v. 483. 
2. Moderate in degree of movement or change ; 
proceeding with slow regularity ; not abrupt or 
sudden : as, a gradual rise or fall of the ther- 
mometer; gradual improvement in health. 
What prospects from his watch-tower high 
Gleam gradual on the warder's eye ! 
Scott, Rokeby, ii. 2. 
Marriage ... is still the beginning of the home epic 
the a rail mil conquest or irremediable loss of that complete 
union which makes . . . age the harvest of sweet memories 
in common. George Eliot, Middlemarch, II. 445. 
Gradual emancipation, modulation, number, etc. 
See the nouns. Gradual Psalms, Psalms cxx. to cxxxiv. 
inclusive : supposed to have been so called because sung 
on the fifteen steps from the outer to the inner court of 
the temple at Jerusalem. Also called Psalm* of Degrees. 
[The title at the head of each of these Psalms IsJIl' 
"PE^, literally ' a song of the goings up, ascents, or steps.' 
In the Septuagint it is uiSij avaSad^v ; in the Vulgate. 
Canticmn graduum ; in the authorized version, "A Song 
of Degrees " ; in the revised version, "A Song of Ascents. "] 
II. n. If. A series of steps. 
Before the gradual prostrate they ador'd, 
The pavement kissed, and thus the saints implor'd. 
Dryden, tr. of Ovid's Metamorph., L 607. 
2. In the Rom. Cath. Ch. : (a) An antiphon sung 
after the reading of the epistle, while the book 
is moved from the epistle to the gospel side of 
the altar: so called because it was formerly 
sung by the subdeacon or epistler and cantor 
on the step (gradus) of the ambo or pulpit from 
which the epistle was read. (6) An office-book 
formerly in use, containing the antiphons called 
graduals, as well as introits and other anti- 
phons, etc., of the mass. Also called the can- 
tatory or eantatorium. 
graduale (grad-u-a'le), n. ; pi. gradualia (-H-S). 
[ML. : see gradual."] Same as gradual, 2. 
2590 
A "graylle booke" or graduale has nothing whatever 
to do with the Gradual Psalms, but is a book containing 
the graduale sung after the Epistle in the Mass. 
N. and Q., 6th ser., XII. 278. 
gradualism (grad'u-al-izm), . [< gradual + 
-imn."] A gradual, progressive, or slow method 
of action. [Rare.] 
Gradualism [in destroying slavery] is delay, and delay is 
the betrayal of victory. Sumner, Speech, Feb. 12, 1803. 
graduality (grad-u-al'i-ti), . [< gradual + 
-ity.~\ The character of being gradual ; regular 
progression. [Rare.] 
The close resemblance of the seedling to the tree, . . . 
and the graduality of the growth. 
J. S. Mill, Logic, III. xv. 3. 
gradually (grad'u-al-i), adv. 1. In a gradual 
manner ; by degrees ; step by step ; slowly. 
No debtor does confess all his debts, but breaks them 
gradually to his man of business. 
Thackeray, Newcomes, xxvi. 
A languor came 
Upon him, gentle sickness, gradually 
Weakening the man. Tennyson, Enoch Arden. 
2f. In degree. 
Human reason doth not only gradually but specifically 
differ from the fantastic reason of brutes. Grew. 
gradualness (grad'u-al-nes), n. The character 
of being gradual. 
The gradualness of growth is a characteristic which 
strikes the simplest observer. 
II. Drummond, Natural Law, p. 92. 
graduand (grad-u-and'), n. [< ML. graduandus, 
to be graduated, ger. of graduare, graduate : see 
graduate."] In British universities, a student 
who has passed his examinations for a degree, 
but has not yet been graduated. 
graduate (grad'u-at), v. ; pret. and pp. gradu- 
ated. ppr. graduating. [< ML. graduatus, pp. of 
graduare (> It. graduare = Sp. Pg. graduar = 
F. graduer), confer a degree upon (in mod. use 
with extended meaning), < L. gradus, a step, 
degree, ML. an academical degree, etc.: see 
grade 1 , n.] I. trans. 1. To mark with degrees, 
regular intervals, or divisions ; divide into small 
regular distances : as, to graduate a thermome- 
ter, a scale, etc. 
According to these observations he graduates his ther- 
mometers. Derham, Physico- Theology, i. 2, note 3. 
2. To arrange or place in a series of grades or 
gradations ; establish gradation in : as, to grad- 
uate punishment. 
Nine several subsidies of a new kind, a graduated in- 
come and property tax, were levied at more critical periods. 
Stubos, Medieval and Modern Hist., p. 250. 
3. To confer a degree upon at the close of a 
course of study, as a student in a college or 
university ; certify by diploma, after examina- 
tion, the attainment of a certain grade of learn- 
ing by : as, he was graduated A. B., and after- 
ward A. M. 
The schools became a scene 
Of solemn farce, where Ignorance on stilts . . . 
With parrot tongue perform'd the scholar's part, 
Proceeding soon a graduated dunce. 
Cowper, Task, ii. 739. 
Young Quincy entered college, where he spent the usual 
four years, and was graduated with the highest honors of 
his class. Lowell, Study Windows, p. 103. 
4. To prepare gradually ; temper or modify by 
degrees. 
Dyers advance and graduate their colours with salts. 
Sir T. Browne. 
Diseases originating in the atmosphere act exclusively 
on bodies graduated to receive their impressions. 
Medical Repository. 
5. To raise to a higher degree, as of fineness, 
consistency, etc.: as, to graduate brine by evap- 
oration. 
The tincture was capable to transmute or graduate as 
much silver as equalled in weight that gold. Doyle. 
II. intrans. 1. To pass by degrees; change 
or pass gradually. 
A grand light falls beautifully on the principal figure, 
but it does not graduate sufficiently into distant parts of 
the cave. Gilpin. 
St. To receive a degree from a college or univer- 
sity, after examination in a course of study ; be 
graduated. 
He graduated at Leyden in 1691. 
London Monthly Mag., Oct., 1808, p. 224. 
graduate (grad'u-at), a. and . [< ML. gradn- 
atus, pp.: see the verb.] I. a. 1. Arranged 
in successive steps or degrees ; graduated. 
Beginning with the genus, passing through all the grad- 
ual,- and subordinate stages. Tatham. 
graff 
fessioual incorporated society, after examina- 
tion. 
I would he & graduate, sir, no freshman. 
Fletcher (and another). Fair Maid of the Inn, iv. 1. 
Sweet girl-graduates in their golden hair. 
Tennyson, Princess, Prol. 
2. A graduated glass vessel used for measuring 
liquids, as by chemists, apothecaries, etc. 
A graduate that has contained tincture of iron, or solu- 
tions of lead or lime. Workshop Receipts, 2d ser., p. 114. 
graduateship (grad'u-at-ship), n. [< graduate 
+ -ship.] The condition of a graduate. 
An English concordance, and a topick folio, the gather- 
ings and savings of a sober graduateship. 
Milton, Areopagitica. 
graduation (grad-u-a'shpn), 11. [= F. gradua- 
tion = Pr. graduacio = Sp. graduation = Pg. 
graduaySo = It. graduazione, < ML. gradua- 
tio(n-), the act of conferring a degree, < gra- 
duare, confer a degree : see graduate."] 1. The 
act of graduating, or the state of being gradu- 
ated, (a) The act or art of dividing into degrees or 
other definite parts, as scales, the limbs of astronomical 
or other instruments, and the like. 
Graduation is the name given to the art of dividing 
straight scales, circular arcs, or whole circumferences into 
any required number of equal parts. Encyc. Brit., XI. 27. 
(6) Admission to a degree in a college or university, or by 
some professional corporation, as a result of examination. 
Bachelors were called Senior, Middle, or Junior Bach- 
elors according to the year since graduation, and before 
taking the degree of Master. Wuolscy, Hist. Disc., p. 122. 
(c) The raising of a substance to a higher degree of fine- 
ness, consistency, or the like ; transmutation, as of metals 
(in alchemy) ; concentration, as of a liquid by evaporation. 
2. Collectively, the marks or lines made on an 
instrument to indicate degrees or other divi- 
sions. 3. The act of grading, or the state of 
being graded ; grading. 
The special and distinctive cause of civilization la not 
the division but the graduation of labor. 
W. H. Mallock, Social Equality, p. 171. 
graduation-engine (grad-u-a'shon-en*jin), M. 
Same as dividing-engine. 
graduator (grad'u-a-tor), n. [< graduate + 
-or.] One who or that which graduates, spe- 
cifically (a) A dividing-engine. (6) A contrivance for 
accelerating spontaneous evaporation by the exposure of 
large surfaces of liquids to a current of air. 
graduatory (grad'u-a-to-ri), a. [< graduate + 
-ory.] Adapted for use in graduation. See 
graduation, 1 (c). 
Others or the same [chemists] speak of [it] as a gradua 
tory substance (as to some metals). Boyle, Works, V. 591. 
graduation (gra-duk'shon), . [Irreg. < L. gra- 
dus, a step, degree, + ducere, pp. ductus, lead.] 
In astron.,the division of circular arcs into de- 
grees, minutes, etc. 
gradus (gra'dus), n. ; pi. gradus. [Abbr. of L. 
Gradus ad Parnassum, steps to Parnassus, a 
fanciful name for an elementary book in pros- 
ody or music : L. gradus, pi. of gradus, a step ; 
ad, to; Parnassum, ace. of Parnassus, Parnas- 
sus.] 1. A dictionary of prosody designed as 
an aid in writing Greek or Latin verses. 
Martin then proceeded to write down eight lines in 
English, . . . and to convert these line by line, by main 
force of Gradus and dictionary, into Latin that would 
scan. T. Hughes, Tom Brown at Bugby, 11. :;. 
2. In music, a work consisting wholly or in 
great part of exercises of gradually increasing 
difficulty. Specifically, the Gradus ad Parnassum, a 
celebrated treatise on musical composition, written in 
Latin, by Johann Joseph Fux, published in Vienna in 1725, 
and since translated into the principal modern languages 
of Europe ; also, the title of a book of exercises for the 
piano by Muzio dementi, now regarded as a classic. 
grady (gra'di), a. [< Heraldic F. as if "grad^, 
< L. gradatus, furnished with 
steps: see grade 1 , gradation."] 
In her., cut into steps, one 
upon another : said of lines, 
of the edges of ordinaries, or 
the like. Sometimes called 
battled embattled, battled gra- 
du, orentbattled grady Cross 
rady, in her. See Calvary cross 
conjoined, under cross*. 
See Grecize, etc. 
Argent, a Bend Grady 
Gules. 
and cross degraded , 
Gr<&cize, Grsecism, etc. ^-w *** W*K, ^ v ^ t 
graf (graf), H. [G., a count: see grare&.~\ A 
German title of dignity equivalent to count: 
the title corresponding to English earl, French 
comte, etc. 
The Graf, or administrative ruler of the province which 
is composed of the aggregations of the hundreds, is a ser- 
vant of the king, fiscal and judicial. 
Stubbs, Const. Hist., 25. 
2. Having received a degree; having been 
graduated: as, a graduate student. 
II. n. 1. One who has been admitted to a de- graff 1 (graf)._. 
gree in a college or university, or by some pro- 
I do not want you to marry the best baron or graf among 
them. Mrs. Alexander, The Freres, xli. 
[A var. ME. graf, < AS. 
graf, nom.) of grave 2 (< ME.^rare, < AS. grttfe, 
