gradual Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun (Roman Catholic Church) an antiphon (usually from the Book of Psalms) immediately after the epistle at Mass
  2. adjective proceeding in small stages
    • a gradual increase in prices
  3. adjective (of a topographical gradient) not steep or abrupt
    • a gradual slope

WordNet

Grad"u*al" adjective
Etymology
Cf; F. graduel. See Grade, and cf. Gradual, n.
Definitions
  1. 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.
    Creatures animate with gradual life Of growth, sense, reason, all summed up in man. Milton.
Grad"u*al noun
Etymology
LL. graduale a gradual (in sense 1), fr. L. gradus step: cf. F. graduel. See Grade, and cf. Grail a gradual.
Definitions
  1. (R. C. Ch.) (a) An antiphon or responsory after the epistle, in the Mass, which was sung on the steps, or while the deacon ascended the steps. (b) A service book containing the musical portions of the Mass.
  2. A series of steps. Obs. Dryden.

Webster 1913