gradationn.

/ɡrəˈdeɪʃən/

Forms: Also 1500s–1600s gradacion.

Etymology: < Latin gradātiōn-em, noun of action < gradus step: see grade n. and -ation suffix. Compare French gradation (1520 in sense 8a, which is the earliest recorded sense also in English.

†1.

a. The process of advancing step by step; a course of gradual progress. Obsolete.

ΚΠ

1589 R. Greene Menaphon sig. D3 Loue..should enter into the eye, and by long gradations passe into the heart.

a1640 T. Risdon Chorogr. Surv. Devon (1811) (modernized text) 14 I purpose my beginning in the east part..my gradation into the south with the sun.

1727 D. Defoe Syst. Magick i. ii. 44 Knowledge had its Gradations too, and tho' it must be confess'd it was at a very slow Rate, yet some advances they did make.

1750 Ld. Chesterfield Let. 22 Feb. (1932) (modernized text) IV. 1508 I am very well satisfied with the progress which you have made in that language..; according to that gradation you will..be master of it.

†b. Period of advance; length of career. Obsolete. rare.

ΘΚΠ

the world > time > [noun] > stretch, period, or portion of time > spell of some action > specific activities

gradation1613

standing1653

sea-time1663

travel time1851

alert1920

block time1930

screen time1991

1613 W. Browne Britannia's Pastorals I. iv. 64 They ciuily had spent their liues gradation, As meeke and milde as in their first creation.

2. A series of successive conditions, qualities, events, etc., forming stages in a process or course. (In early instances probably suggested by 8a.) ? Obsolete.

ΘΚΠ

the world > relative properties > order > order, sequence, or succession > [noun] > a series or succession > of actions, conditions, or events

gradation1549

continuance1605

series1618

chain1696

1549 H. Latimer 2nd Serm. before Kynges Maiestie 5th Serm. sig. Pvi^v What was the way they walked?.. They stouped after gayne... What folowed?.. They toke..brybbes... What then?.. They turned Justice vpsedowne [see 1 Sam. viii. 3]... Here is the Deuyls genealogye, A gradation of the Deuyls makynge.

1631 B. Jonson Bartholmew Fayre iii. iii. 36 in Wks. II The care I had of that ciuil yong man..drew me to that exhortation, which drew the company,..which drew the cut-purse; which drew the money; which drew my brother Cokes his losse; which drew on Wasp's anger; which drew on my beating: a pretty gradation!

1692 R. South 12 Serm. I. 548 So certain it is, by a direct Gradation of Consequences from this Principle of Merit, that [etc.].

1717 L. Howel Desiderius 12 Love of God is to be attain'd by a gradation of religious Virtues.

1740 C. Cibber Apol. Life C. Cibber iii. 39 That such a Pile of English Fame, and Glory..should..so..moulder away, in one continual Gradation of Political Errors.

1781 E. Gibbon Decline & Fall III. xxvii. 29 The son..attained, in the regular gradation of civil honours, the station of consular of Liguria.

a. plural. Steps, progressive movements. Now only in immaterial sense, stages of transition or advance.

ΘΚΠ

the world > action or operation > prosperity > advancement or progress > [noun] > a stage in a process or development > stages or movements

graduations1594

gradations1599

1599 Warning for Faire Women ii. 3 You have..by gradations seen how we have grown Into the main stream of our tragedy.

1671 J. Tillotson Serm. ii. 103 The several gradations by which men at last come to this horrid degree of impiety.

a1680 J. Bargrave Pope Alexander VII (1867) ii. 129 A Cameleon..winding its tail about the sticks of the cage, to help and secure its gradations.

1712 R. Steele Spectator No. 430. ⁋2 I hope you will..give us the History of Plenty and Want, and the natural Gradations towards them.

1861 M. Pattison in Westm. Rev. Apr. 415 The Steelyard passed with the rest of the parish by the same easy gradations from the old to the new faith.

†b. singular. A means of gradual transition. Obsolete.

ΚΠ

1710 H. Cromwell Let. to Pope 3 Aug. 'Tis an interpolation indeed, and serves for a gradation to the Cœlestial Orb.

†4. plural. Configurations or arrangements resembling a flight of steps. Obsolete. rare.

ΘΚΠ

the world > space > shape > other specific shapes > [noun] > step(s) or stair(s)

stagea1500

step1674

gradations1698

stair-stepper1925

1698 J. Fryer New Acct. E.-India & Persia 260 The Foundations Black Marble with gradations to the bottom.

1726 J. Swift Gulliver II. iii. i. 11 I could see the Sides of it, encompassed with several Gradations of Gallerys.

1802 M. Charlton tr. A. La Fontaine Reprobate II. 279 They then descended the gradations of the rock together.

a. A scale or series of degrees in rank, merit, intensity, or difference from some particular type; the fact or condition of including or being arranged in a series of degrees.

ΘΚΠ

the world > relative properties > measurement > measuring instrument > [noun] > graduated instruments > graduated scale

scalec1400

gradationa1676

a1676 M. Hale Primitive Originat. Mankind (1677) 158 Although perchance existing Individuals may not be actually Infinite, yet certain it is that the potential gradation of things may be potentially Infinite.

1783 Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) 73 206 I plainly observed a gradation in the damage done to the buildings..in proportion as the countries were more or less distant from this supposed center of the evil.

1808 J. Webster Elem. Nat. Philos. (new ed.) 170 This changes by gradation into an orange, thence into a yellow, and as the rays rise higher, into a green, blue, indigo, and violet.

1832 D. Brewster Lett. Nat. Magic vi. 153 Hence there will necessarily arise a gradation of density.

1832 H. Martineau Life in Wilds vii. 96 No man can be more sensible than I am of the advantages of a gradation of ranks in society.

1856 R. W. Emerson Eng. Traits xiii. 218 The gradation of the clergy..makes them ‘the link which unites the sequestered peasantry with the intellectual advancement of the age’.

1863 H. Cox Inst. Eng. Govt. iii. vi. 670 The present system of a gradation of officers, each imposing a check upon the other.

1864 H. Spencer Princ. Biol. I. 6 The several compounds of oxygen with nitrogen, present us with an instructive gradation.

1879 G. F. Maclear St. Mark ix. 105 There is order and gradation in the hierarchy of blessed spirits.

†b. Position in a scale, relative rank. Obsolete.

ΘΚΠ

society > society and the community > social class > [noun]

estatec1230

statec1300

rowa1350

qualityc1425

calling1477

range1494

line1528

stature1533

respect1601

station1603

gradationa1616

ordinancea1616

repute1615

spherea1616

distance1635

impression1639

civils1650

footing1657

regimen1660

order1667

sect1709

caste1791

status1818

position1829

social status1833

standpoint1875

a1616 W. Shakespeare Othello (1622) i. i. 36 Preferment goes by letter and affection, Not by the olde gradation, where each second Stood heire to the first.

1802 M. Charlton tr. A. La Fontaine Reprobate I. 39 She had received a better education than was generally bestowed on others of the same gradation in life.

6. plural. Degrees of rank, merit, intensity, etc.; successively differing varieties of form or properties, constituting a series intermediate in character between two conditions or types.

ΚΠ

1605 F. Bacon Of Aduancem. Learning ii. sig. Ff3^v The sober and grounded inquirie [as to angels, etc.] which may arise..out of the gradacions of Nature is not restrained.

1660 Exact Accompt Trial Regicides 41 The Indictment contains many Circumstances, and Gradations, in the Treason.

1758 S. Johnson Idler 3 June 65 I cannot pretend to inform our Generals thro' what gradations of danger they shall train their men to fortitude.

1783 E. Burke Rep. Affairs India in Wks. (1842) II. 9 They thought it not unnecessary here to state the gradations in the service.

1793 T. Holcroft tr. J. C. Lavater Ess. Physiognomy (abridged ed.) ii. 20 Who shall enumerate the gradations between insect and man?

1815 R. Bakewell Introd. Geol. (ed. 2) xvi. 447 Granite, porphyry, sienite, green-stone and basalt pass by..insensible gradations into each other.

1832 W. Macgillivray Trav. & Researches A. von Humboldt xxiv. 370 In this district are displayed in a remarkable manner the gradations of vegetation.

1856 D. Masson Ess. Biogr. & Crit. x. 473 Thus..prose passes into verse by visible gradations.

1875 C. Darwin Insectivorous Plants iii. 58 There were gradations in the completeness of the process.

7. The action of arranging in a series of grades.

ΚΠ

1858 W. Whewell Novum Organon Renov. 220 The method of gradation consists in taking a number of stages of a property in question, intermediate between two extreme cases which appear to be different.

a. Rhetoric. = climax n. 1a ? Obsolete.

ΘΚΠ

society > leisure > the arts > literature > style of language or writing > figure of speech > figures of structure or thought > [noun] > climax

gradation1538

climax1572

auxesis1577

advancer1589

increment1753

1538 T. Elyot Dict. Climax, a ladder, and the fygure callydde gradation.

1553 T. Wilson Arte of Rhetorique 109 Gradacion is when we reherse the worde that goeth nexte before, and bryng another woorde thereupon that encreaseth the matter, as though one should go vp a paire of staiers, and not leaue til he come at the toppe.

1573 G. Harvey Let.-bk. (1884) 51 In time, bi his troth, for ani thing he knew..this verri gradation he usid himself with me at that time.

1627 H. Burton Baiting Popes Bull 29 Concluding this clause with a rhetoricall gradation, that neither the prison, the racke, nor death it selfe should daunt them.

1681 J. Flavell Method of Grace xiv. 277 We may observe a notable Climax, or gradation in those Scriptures that speak of his glory.

1728 E. Chambers Cycl. Gradation, in Rhetoric, is when a Series of Proofs is brought, rising by degrees, and emproving each on the other.

†b. Logic. = sorites n. Obsolete. rare.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > mental capacity > philosophy > logic > logical syllogism > logical argument > [noun] > logical fallacy > sorites > instance of

sorites1581

gradation1728

chain-argument1860

chain-syllogism1870

1728 E. Chambers Cycl. Gradation, in Logic, is an Argumentation consisting of four, or more Propositions, so disposed, as that the Attribute of the first is the Subject of the second; and the Attribute of the second, the Subject of the third; and so on, till the last Attribute come to be predicated of the Subject of the first Proposition.

†9. Alchemy. ‘Exaltation’ or raising to a higher degree (see quot. 1617). Obsolete.

ΘΚΠ

the world > matter > alchemy > alchemical processes > [noun] > refining

glorificationa1475

graduation1477

gradation1617

1617 J. Woodall Surgions Mate Termes 344 Gradation is an exaltation of mettals in the degree of affections, whereby waight, colour, and constancy are brought to an excellent measure, but the substance vnaltered: so golde is rubified, fixed— and purified.

1651 J. French Art Distillation vi. 188 Pour upon it..Aqua regia, and the water of gradation.

1728 E. Chambers Cycl. Gradation, in Chymistry, is a kind of Process belonging to Metals.—It consists in raising, or exalting them to a higher Degree of Purity.

10. Fine Arts.

a. Painting. An insensible passing from one colour or shade to another.

ΘΚΠ

society > leisure > the arts > visual arts > painting and drawing > painting > art of colouring > [noun] > gradual passing from one to another

gradation1728

passage1861

1728 E. Chambers Cycl. (at cited word) The Painters also use the Word Gradation for an insensible Change of Colour, by the Diminution of the Teints, and Shades.

1765 H. Walpole Vertue's Anecd. Painting (ed. 2) I. iii. 53 Blues, reds, greens and yellows not being blended in the gradations.

1821 W. M. Craig Lect. Drawing iv. 228 To gratify the sight, by delicate contrasts, and impossible gradations.

1846 J. Ruskin Mod. Painters II. 43 What curvature is to lines, gradation is to shades and colours... Absolutely, without gradation no natural surface can possibly be.

1873 P. G. Hamerton Intellect. Life (1875) ii. i. 50 The amateur..finds that the gradation of his sky will not come right.

1887 Q. Rev. 164 109 In the production of gradations of effect in gold the Japanese stand alone.

b. Architecture. (See quot. 1728.)

ΚΠ

1728 E. Chambers Cycl. Gradation, in Architecture, signifies an artful Disposition of several Parts, as it were, by Steps, or Degrees, after the manner of an Amphitheater; so that those placed before, do no Disservice..to those behind.

c. Music. ‘A diatonic ascending or descending succession of chords’ (Brande Dict. Sci. etc. 1842).

ΚΠ

1876 J. Stainer & W. A. Barrett Dict. Musical Terms 199/1 Gradation, Gradazione, gradation, by degrees of the scale.

11. Philology. = ablaut n. Also, a modification (of a vowel) resulting from ablaut.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > language > linguistics > study of speech sound > speech sound > vowel > [noun] > ablaut

ablaut1849

gradation1870

apophony1883

vowel gradation1887

1870 Sweet in Trans. Philol. Soc. i. 3 Au being the second ‘gradation’ of u...The first gradation of u is eô.

1887 W. W. Skeat Princ. Eng. Etymol. x. §134. 156 Some of the older vowel-sounds..are to a certain extent connected by what is known as ‘gradation,’ or in German, ablaut.

12. = graduation n. rare (possibly misprint).

ΚΠ

1759 O. Goldsmith Pres. State Polite Learning (1774) 43 I have sometimes attended their disputes at gradation.

Derivatives

graˈdationed adj. formed by or with gradations.

ΘΚΠ

the world > relative properties > order > [adjective] > of or relating to a system > arranged in gradations

gradual?1541

degreed1581

graduate1628

scalary1646

graduated1679

gradatory1793

gradationed1805

1805 W. Taylor in Ann. Rev. 3 288 Under a gradationed representation, the electoral body..become the real constituents.

1808 W. Taylor in Ann. Rev. 6 269 To depute by universal suffrage, but gradationed delegation, the wisest depositaries of their wishes respecting [etc.].

This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1900; most recently modified version published online March 2022).

单词	gradation
释义	gradationn. /ɡrəˈdeɪʃən/ Forms: Also 1500s–1600s gradacion. Etymology: < Latin gradātiōn-em, noun of action < gradus step: see grade n. and -ation suffix. Compare French gradation (1520 in sense 8a, which is the earliest recorded sense also in English. †1. a. The process of advancing step by step; a course of gradual progress. Obsolete. ΚΠ 1589 R. Greene Menaphon sig. D3 Loue..should enter into the eye, and by long gradations passe into the heart. a1640 T. Risdon Chorogr. Surv. Devon (1811) (modernized text) 14 I purpose my beginning in the east part..my gradation into the south with the sun. 1727 D. Defoe Syst. Magick i. ii. 44 Knowledge had its Gradations too, and tho' it must be confess'd it was at a very slow Rate, yet some advances they did make. 1750 Ld. Chesterfield Let. 22 Feb. (1932) (modernized text) IV. 1508 I am very well satisfied with the progress which you have made in that language..; according to that gradation you will..be master of it. †b. Period of advance; length of career. Obsolete. rare. ΘΚΠ the world > time > [noun] > stretch, period, or portion of time > spell of some action > specific activities gradation1613 standing1653 sea-time1663 travel time1851 alert1920 block time1930 screen time1991 1613 W. Browne Britannia's Pastorals I. iv. 64 They ciuily had spent their liues gradation, As meeke and milde as in their first creation. 2. A series of successive conditions, qualities, events, etc., forming stages in a process or course. (In early instances probably suggested by 8a.) ? Obsolete. ΘΚΠ the world > relative properties > order > order, sequence, or succession > [noun] > a series or succession > of actions, conditions, or events gradation1549 continuance1605 series1618 chain1696 1549 H. Latimer 2nd Serm. before Kynges Maiestie 5th Serm. sig. Pvi^v What was the way they walked?.. They stouped after gayne... What folowed?.. They toke..brybbes... What then?.. They turned Justice vpsedowne [see 1 Sam. viii. 3]... Here is the Deuyls genealogye, A gradation of the Deuyls makynge. 1631 B. Jonson Bartholmew Fayre iii. iii. 36 in Wks. II The care I had of that ciuil yong man..drew me to that exhortation, which drew the company,..which drew the cut-purse; which drew the money; which drew my brother Cokes his losse; which drew on Wasp's anger; which drew on my beating: a pretty gradation! 1692 R. South 12 Serm. I. 548 So certain it is, by a direct Gradation of Consequences from this Principle of Merit, that [etc.]. 1717 L. Howel Desiderius 12 Love of God is to be attain'd by a gradation of religious Virtues. 1740 C. Cibber Apol. Life C. Cibber iii. 39 That such a Pile of English Fame, and Glory..should..so..moulder away, in one continual Gradation of Political Errors. 1781 E. Gibbon Decline & Fall III. xxvii. 29 The son..attained, in the regular gradation of civil honours, the station of consular of Liguria. 3. a. plural. Steps, progressive movements. Now only in immaterial sense, stages of transition or advance. ΘΚΠ the world > action or operation > prosperity > advancement or progress > [noun] > a stage in a process or development > stages or movements graduations1594 gradations1599 1599 Warning for Faire Women ii. 3 You have..by gradations seen how we have grown Into the main stream of our tragedy. 1671 J. Tillotson Serm. ii. 103 The several gradations by which men at last come to this horrid degree of impiety. a1680 J. Bargrave Pope Alexander VII (1867) ii. 129 A Cameleon..winding its tail about the sticks of the cage, to help and secure its gradations. 1712 R. Steele Spectator No. 430. ⁋2 I hope you will..give us the History of Plenty and Want, and the natural Gradations towards them. 1861 M. Pattison in Westm. Rev. Apr. 415 The Steelyard passed with the rest of the parish by the same easy gradations from the old to the new faith. †b. singular. A means of gradual transition. Obsolete. ΚΠ 1710 H. Cromwell Let. to Pope 3 Aug. 'Tis an interpolation indeed, and serves for a gradation to the Cœlestial Orb. †4. plural. Configurations or arrangements resembling a flight of steps. Obsolete. rare. ΘΚΠ the world > space > shape > other specific shapes > [noun] > step(s) or stair(s) stagea1500 step1674 gradations1698 stair-stepper1925 1698 J. Fryer New Acct. E.-India & Persia 260 The Foundations Black Marble with gradations to the bottom. 1726 J. Swift Gulliver II. iii. i. 11 I could see the Sides of it, encompassed with several Gradations of Gallerys. 1802 M. Charlton tr. A. La Fontaine Reprobate II. 279 They then descended the gradations of the rock together. 5. a. A scale or series of degrees in rank, merit, intensity, or difference from some particular type; the fact or condition of including or being arranged in a series of degrees. ΘΚΠ the world > relative properties > measurement > measuring instrument > [noun] > graduated instruments > graduated scale scalec1400 gradationa1676 a1676 M. Hale Primitive Originat. Mankind (1677) 158 Although perchance existing Individuals may not be actually Infinite, yet certain it is that the potential gradation of things may be potentially Infinite. 1783 Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) 73 206 I plainly observed a gradation in the damage done to the buildings..in proportion as the countries were more or less distant from this supposed center of the evil. 1808 J. Webster Elem. Nat. Philos. (new ed.) 170 This changes by gradation into an orange, thence into a yellow, and as the rays rise higher, into a green, blue, indigo, and violet. 1832 D. Brewster Lett. Nat. Magic vi. 153 Hence there will necessarily arise a gradation of density. 1832 H. Martineau Life in Wilds vii. 96 No man can be more sensible than I am of the advantages of a gradation of ranks in society. 1856 R. W. Emerson Eng. Traits xiii. 218 The gradation of the clergy..makes them ‘the link which unites the sequestered peasantry with the intellectual advancement of the age’. 1863 H. Cox Inst. Eng. Govt. iii. vi. 670 The present system of a gradation of officers, each imposing a check upon the other. 1864 H. Spencer Princ. Biol. I. 6 The several compounds of oxygen with nitrogen, present us with an instructive gradation. 1879 G. F. Maclear St. Mark ix. 105 There is order and gradation in the hierarchy of blessed spirits. †b. Position in a scale, relative rank. Obsolete. ΘΚΠ society > society and the community > social class > [noun] estatec1230 statec1300 rowa1350 qualityc1425 calling1477 range1494 line1528 stature1533 respect1601 station1603 gradationa1616 ordinancea1616 repute1615 spherea1616 distance1635 impression1639 civils1650 footing1657 regimen1660 order1667 sect1709 caste1791 status1818 position1829 social status1833 standpoint1875 a1616 W. Shakespeare Othello (1622) i. i. 36 Preferment goes by letter and affection, Not by the olde gradation, where each second Stood heire to the first. 1802 M. Charlton tr. A. La Fontaine Reprobate I. 39 She had received a better education than was generally bestowed on others of the same gradation in life. 6. plural. Degrees of rank, merit, intensity, etc.; successively differing varieties of form or properties, constituting a series intermediate in character between two conditions or types. ΚΠ 1605 F. Bacon Of Aduancem. Learning ii. sig. Ff3^v The sober and grounded inquirie [as to angels, etc.] which may arise..out of the gradacions of Nature is not restrained. View more context for this quotation 1660 Exact Accompt Trial Regicides 41 The Indictment contains many Circumstances, and Gradations, in the Treason. 1758 S. Johnson Idler 3 June 65 I cannot pretend to inform our Generals thro' what gradations of danger they shall train their men to fortitude. 1783 E. Burke Rep. Affairs India in Wks. (1842) II. 9 They thought it not unnecessary here to state the gradations in the service. 1793 T. Holcroft tr. J. C. Lavater Ess. Physiognomy (abridged ed.) ii. 20 Who shall enumerate the gradations between insect and man? 1815 R. Bakewell Introd. Geol. (ed. 2) xvi. 447 Granite, porphyry, sienite, green-stone and basalt pass by..insensible gradations into each other. 1832 W. Macgillivray Trav. & Researches A. von Humboldt xxiv. 370 In this district are displayed in a remarkable manner the gradations of vegetation. 1856 D. Masson Ess. Biogr. & Crit. x. 473 Thus..prose passes into verse by visible gradations. 1875 C. Darwin Insectivorous Plants iii. 58 There were gradations in the completeness of the process. 7. The action of arranging in a series of grades. ΚΠ 1858 W. Whewell Novum Organon Renov. 220 The method of gradation consists in taking a number of stages of a property in question, intermediate between two extreme cases which appear to be different. 8. a. Rhetoric. = climax n. 1a ? Obsolete. ΘΚΠ society > leisure > the arts > literature > style of language or writing > figure of speech > figures of structure or thought > [noun] > climax gradation1538 climax1572 auxesis1577 advancer1589 increment1753 1538 T. Elyot Dict. Climax, a ladder, and the fygure callydde gradation. 1553 T. Wilson Arte of Rhetorique 109 Gradacion is when we reherse the worde that goeth nexte before, and bryng another woorde thereupon that encreaseth the matter, as though one should go vp a paire of staiers, and not leaue til he come at the toppe. 1573 G. Harvey Let.-bk. (1884) 51 In time, bi his troth, for ani thing he knew..this verri gradation he usid himself with me at that time. 1627 H. Burton Baiting Popes Bull 29 Concluding this clause with a rhetoricall gradation, that neither the prison, the racke, nor death it selfe should daunt them. 1681 J. Flavell Method of Grace xiv. 277 We may observe a notable Climax, or gradation in those Scriptures that speak of his glory. 1728 E. Chambers Cycl. Gradation, in Rhetoric, is when a Series of Proofs is brought, rising by degrees, and emproving each on the other. †b. Logic. = sorites n. Obsolete. rare. ΘΚΠ the mind > mental capacity > philosophy > logic > logical syllogism > logical argument > [noun] > logical fallacy > sorites > instance of sorites1581 gradation1728 chain-argument1860 chain-syllogism1870 1728 E. Chambers Cycl. Gradation, in Logic, is an Argumentation consisting of four, or more Propositions, so disposed, as that the Attribute of the first is the Subject of the second; and the Attribute of the second, the Subject of the third; and so on, till the last Attribute come to be predicated of the Subject of the first Proposition. †9. Alchemy. ‘Exaltation’ or raising to a higher degree (see quot. 1617). Obsolete. ΘΚΠ the world > matter > alchemy > alchemical processes > [noun] > refining glorificationa1475 graduation1477 gradation1617 1617 J. Woodall Surgions Mate Termes 344 Gradation is an exaltation of mettals in the degree of affections, whereby waight, colour, and constancy are brought to an excellent measure, but the substance vnaltered: so golde is rubified, fixed— and purified. 1651 J. French Art Distillation vi. 188 Pour upon it..Aqua regia, and the water of gradation. 1728 E. Chambers Cycl. Gradation, in Chymistry, is a kind of Process belonging to Metals.—It consists in raising, or exalting them to a higher Degree of Purity. 10. Fine Arts. a. Painting. An insensible passing from one colour or shade to another. ΘΚΠ society > leisure > the arts > visual arts > painting and drawing > painting > art of colouring > [noun] > gradual passing from one to another gradation1728 passage1861 1728 E. Chambers Cycl. (at cited word) The Painters also use the Word Gradation for an insensible Change of Colour, by the Diminution of the Teints, and Shades. 1765 H. Walpole Vertue's Anecd. Painting (ed. 2) I. iii. 53 Blues, reds, greens and yellows not being blended in the gradations. 1821 W. M. Craig Lect. Drawing iv. 228 To gratify the sight, by delicate contrasts, and impossible gradations. 1846 J. Ruskin Mod. Painters II. 43 What curvature is to lines, gradation is to shades and colours... Absolutely, without gradation no natural surface can possibly be. 1873 P. G. Hamerton Intellect. Life (1875) ii. i. 50 The amateur..finds that the gradation of his sky will not come right. 1887 Q. Rev. 164 109 In the production of gradations of effect in gold the Japanese stand alone. b. Architecture. (See quot. 1728.) ΚΠ 1728 E. Chambers Cycl. Gradation, in Architecture, signifies an artful Disposition of several Parts, as it were, by Steps, or Degrees, after the manner of an Amphitheater; so that those placed before, do no Disservice..to those behind. c. Music. ‘A diatonic ascending or descending succession of chords’ (Brande Dict. Sci. etc. 1842). ΚΠ 1876 J. Stainer & W. A. Barrett Dict. Musical Terms 199/1 Gradation, Gradazione, gradation, by degrees of the scale. 11. Philology. = ablaut n. Also, a modification (of a vowel) resulting from ablaut. ΘΚΠ the mind > language > linguistics > study of speech sound > speech sound > vowel > [noun] > ablaut ablaut1849 gradation1870 apophony1883 vowel gradation1887 1870 Sweet in Trans. Philol. Soc. i. 3 Au being the second ‘gradation’ of u...The first gradation of u is eô. 1887 W. W. Skeat Princ. Eng. Etymol. x. §134. 156 Some of the older vowel-sounds..are to a certain extent connected by what is known as ‘gradation,’ or in German, ablaut. 12. = graduation n. rare (possibly misprint). ΚΠ 1759 O. Goldsmith Pres. State Polite Learning (1774) 43 I have sometimes attended their disputes at gradation. Derivatives graˈdationed adj. formed by or with gradations. ΘΚΠ the world > relative properties > order > [adjective] > of or relating to a system > arranged in gradations gradual?1541 degreed1581 graduate1628 scalary1646 graduated1679 gradatory1793 gradationed1805 1805 W. Taylor in Ann. Rev. 3 288 Under a gradationed representation, the electoral body..become the real constituents. 1808 W. Taylor in Ann. Rev. 6 269 To depute by universal suffrage, but gradationed delegation, the wisest depositaries of their wishes respecting [etc.]. This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1900; most recently modified version published online March 2022). < n.1538
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