gradualis

Forms

graduālis (neuter graduāle); third-declension two-termination adjective^[1] The commoner medieval form is gradālis.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is from Latin gradus + -ālis, from gradus (“step”).^[1][4][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Medieval sources record it, often in the form gradalis,^[2][3] in Aurelian of Réôme's treatise on music, for responsories sung at the steps,^[2] and in the Visio Godescalci (end of the 12th century), for an advance from brightness to brightness by stages.^[2][4]

Semantic evolution

Besides “provided with steps” and “proceeding by degrees”, the adjective was used in the liturgy for chants sung at the steps of the choir or altar, and the neuter graduale became the name of that chant and of the book containing it.^[2][3] In British sources it also describes things shaped like steps and, in arithmetic, composite numbers.^[3] In Hungary it meant “done by degrees”.^[6] English took gradual from it in the early 15th century, first meaning “having steps”.^[5]

Timeline

• end of the 12th century – The Visio Godescalci uses it of a stepwise advance.^[2][4]
• after 1215 – A Salisbury office uses versus gradualis for the gradual verse.^[3]
• 1245 – An inventory of St Paul's describes a cope clasp rising in three steps.^[3]
• early 15th century – English borrows it as gradual.^[5]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Provided with steps, stepped.^[2][7]
2. Proceeding by degrees, gradual.^[2][6]
3. (Ecclesiastical Latin) Sung at the steps of the choir or altar;^[2][3] graduale (neuter, as a noun): the gradual chant, or the book containing it.^[2][3]
4. (arithmetic) Composite (of a number).^[3]

Related words

• gradus
• English gradual

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Mittellateinisches Wörterbuch bis zum ausgehenden 13. Jahrhundert (1967–), Munich: C. H. Beck; Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i Latham, R. E., D. R. Howlett, R. K. Ashdowne, et al. (1975–2013), Dictionary of Medieval Latin from British Sources, London: British Academy / Oxford University Press
4. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
5. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
6. ^ a b Bartal, Antal, et al. (1987–), Lexicon Latinitatis Medii Aevi Hungariae, Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó; online ed. ELTE
7. ^ Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson