grail

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ɡɹeɪl/^[1]

Etymology

It comes from Middle English greal, gral,^[2][3][4][5] from Old French graal (“cup; earlier, a large shallow dish”),^{[2][3][4][5][6]} from Medieval Latin gradalis (“flat dish, shallow vessel”),^{[2][3][4][5][6]} of uncertain origin,^[4][6] perhaps ultimately from Latin crater (“bowl”), from Ancient Greek κρατήρ (kratḗr, “mixing bowl”).^[3][4] It is related to crater.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The Holy Grail, the dish or cup used by Christ at the Last Supper (about 1300; about 1330 in the OED).^[3][4][7]

Semantic evolution

The Grail had been worked into the Celtic Arthurian legends by the 12th century.^[4] Some writers made it the cup in which Joseph of Arimathea caught the last drops of Christ's blood, others the dish of the Last Supper, and it was later identified as both.^[3][4] Middle English sangreal was reshaped as if from sang real “royal blood”.^[4] From this came the figurative sense of any object of a long and difficult quest.^[2][5][6]

Timeline

• 12th century – the Grail enters Arthurian legend.^[4]
• about 1300 – gral, the Holy Grail.^[4][3]
• about 1400 – sangreal.^[4]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. (often capitalized) The cup or platter used, in medieval legend, by Jesus at the Last Supper, later the object of knightly quests; the Holy Grail.
2. The object of a long, difficult quest; an ultimate goal.

Related words

• sangreal
• crater

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
3. ^ a b c d e f g Barnhart, Robert K., ed. (1995), The Barnhart Concise Dictionary of Etymology, New York: HarperCollins
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Harper, Douglas, Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ a b c d Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
6. ^ a b c d Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary (1999), 2nd ed., New York: Random House
7. ^ Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press