gradual

• POS: Adjective, Noun
• HYPHEN: grad=u=al

CIDE DICTIONARY

gradual, a. [Cf; F. graduel. See Grade, and cf. Gradual, n.].

 Proceeding by steps or degrees; advancing, step by step, as in ascent or descent or from one state to another; regularly progressive; slow; as, a gradual increase of knowledge; a gradual decline.  [1913 Webster]
"Creatures animate with gradual life
Of growth, sense, reason, all summed up in man."  [1913 Webster]

gradual, n. [LL. graduale a gradual (in sense 1), fr. L. gradus step: cf. F. graduel. See Grade, and cf. Grail a gradual.].

•  An antiphon or responsory after the epistle, in the Mass, which was sung on the steps, or while the deacon ascended the steps.  [1913 Webster]
•  A series of steps.  Dryden.  [1913 Webster]

OXFORD DICTIONARY

gradual, adj. & n.
--adj.
1 taking place or progressing slowly or by degrees.
2 not rapid or steep or abrupt.
--n. Eccl.
1 a response sung or recited between the Epistle and Gospel in the Mass.
2 a book of music for the sung Mass service.

Derivative

gradually adv. gradualness n.

Etymology

med.L gradualis, -ale f. L gradus step, the noun referring to the altar-steps on which the response is sung

THESAURUS

gradual

ambling, cautious, circumspect, claudicant, crawling, creeping, creeping like snail, deliberate, dilatory, easy, even, faltering, flagging, foot-dragging, gentle, halting, hobbled, hobbling, idle, inchmeal, indolent, lagging, languid, languorous, lazy, leisurely, limping, lumbering, moderate, piecemeal, poking, poky, regular, relaxed, reluctant, sauntering, shuffling, slack, slothful, slow, slow as death, slow as molasses, slow as slow, slow-crawling, slow-foot, slow-going, slow-legged, slow-moving, slow-paced, slow-poky, slow-running, slow-sailing, slow-stepped, sluggish, snail-paced, snaillike, staggering, steady, step-by-step, strolling, tentative, toddling, tortoiselike, tottering, trudging, turtlelike, unhurried, waddling

ROGET THESAURUS

gradual

Degree

N degree, grade, extent, measure, amount, ratio, stint, standard, height, pitch, reach, amplitude, range, scope, caliber, gradation, shade, tenor, compass, sphere, station, rank, standing, rate, way, sort, point, mark, stage, intensity, strength, comparative, gradual, shading off, within the bounds, by degrees, gradually, inasmuch, pro tanto, however, howsoever, step by step, bit by bit, little by little, inch by inch, drop by drop, a little at a time, by inches, by slow degrees, by degrees, by little and little, in some degree, in some measure, to some extent, di grado in grado.

Continuity

N continuity, consecution, consecutiveness, succession, round, suite, progression, series, train chain, catenation, concatenation, scale, gradation, course, ceaselessness, constant flow, unbroken extent, procession, column, retinue, cortege, cavalcade, rank and file, line of battle, array, pedigree, genealogy, lineage, race, ancestry, descent, family, house, line, line of ancestors, strain, rank, file, line, row, range, tier, string, thread, team, suit, colonnade, continuous, continued, consecutive, progressive, gradual, serial, successive, immediate, unbroken, entire, linear, in a line, in a row, uninterrupted, unintermitting, unremitting, unrelenting (perseverence), perennial, evergreen, constant, continuously, seriatim, in a line, in succession, in turn, running, gradually, step by step, gradatim, at a stretch, in file, in column, in single file, in Indian file.

Slowness

N slowness, languor, drawl, creeping, lentor, retardation, slackening, delay, claudication, jog trot, dog trot, mincing steps, slow march, slow time, slow goer, slow coach, slow back, lingerer, loiterer, sluggard, tortoise, snail, poke, dawdle, slow, slack, tardy, dilatory, gentle, easy, leisurely, deliberate, gradual, insensible, imperceptible, glacial, languid, sluggish, slow paced, tardigrade, snail-like, creeping, reptatorial, slowly, leisurely, piano, adagio, largo, larghetto, at half speed, under easy sail, at a foots pace, at a snail's pace, at a funeral pace, in slow time, with mincing steps, with clipped wings, haud passibus aequis, gradually, gradatim, by degrees, by slow degrees, by inches, by little and little, step by step, one step at a time, inch by inch, bit by bit, little by little, seriatim, consecutively, dum Roma deliberat Saguntum perit, at a glacial pace.