grail English · revision 1103

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ɡɹeɪl/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It comes from Middle English ''greal'', ''gral'',^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate) [[der|fro|graal|t=cup; earlier, a large shallow dish]],^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU) [[der|la-med|gradalis|t=flat dish, shallow vessel]],^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU) of uncertain origin,^(Etymonline)^(RHWU) perhaps ultimately from [[la|crater|t=bowl]], [[der|grc|κρατήρ|tr=kratḗr|t=mixing bowl]].^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline) It is related to [[crater]].^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The Holy Grail, the dish or cup used by Christ at the Last Supper (about 1300; about 1330 in the OED).^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The Grail had been worked into the Celtic Arthurian legends by the 12th century.^(Etymonline) 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.^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline) Middle English ''sangreal'' was reshaped as if from ''sang real'' “royal blood”.^(Etymonline) From this came the figurative sense of any object of a long and difficult quest.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 12th century – the Grail enters Arthurian legend.^(Etymonline)

+ * about 1300 – ''gral'', the Holy Grail.^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1995)

+ * about 1400 – ''sangreal''.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # ''(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.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+ # The object of a long, difficult quest; an ultimate goal.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[sangreal]]

+ * [[crater]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}