Emily Dickinson Lexicon

GRA-CIL'I-TY, n.

Slenderness. [Not in wse.]

GRA'CIOUS, a. [Fr. gracieux; L. gratiosus.]

1. Favorable; kind; friendly; as, the envoy met with a gracious reception.
2. Favorable; kind; benevolent; merciful; disposed to forgive offenses and impart unmerited blessings. Thou art a God ready to pardon, gracious and merciful. Neh. ix.
3. Favorable; expressing kindness and favor. All bore him witness, and wondered at the gracious words which proceeded from his mouth. Luke iv.
4. Proceeding from divine grace; as, a person in a gracious state.
5. Acceptable; favored. He made us gracious before the kings of Persia. [Little used.] 1 Esdras.
6. Renewed or implanted by grace; as, gracious affections.
7. Virtuous; good. Shak.
8. Excellent; graceful; becoming. [Obs.] Hooker. Camden.

GRA'CIOUS-LY, adv.

1. Kindly; favorably; in a friendly manner; with kind condescension. His testimony he graciously confirmed. Dryden.
2. In a pleasing manner.

GRA'CIOUS-NESS, n.

1. Kind condescension. Clarendon.
2. Possession of graces or good qualities. Bp. Barlow.
3. Pleasing manner. Jonson.
4. Mercifulness. Sandys.

GRACK'LE, n. [L. graculus, dim. of Goth. krage, a crow. See Crow. Varro's deduction of this word from grex is an error.]

A genus of birds, the Gracula, of which the crow blackbird is a species.

GRA-DA'TION, n. [L. gradatio; Fr. gradation. See Grade.]

1. A series of ascending steps or degrees, or a proceeding step by step; hence, progress from one degree or state to another; a regular advance from step to step. We observe a gradation in the progress of society from a rude to a civilized life. Men may arrive by several gradations to the most horrid impiety.
2. A degree in any order or series; we observe a gradation in the scale of being, from brute to man, from man to angels.
3. Order; series; regular process by degrees or steps; as, a gradation in argument or description.

GRA-DA'TION-AL, a.

According to gradation. Lawrence.

GRA-DA'TION-ED, a.

Formed by gradation. New An. Reg.

GRAD'A-TO-RY, a.

Proceeding step by step. Seward.

GRAD'A-TO-RY, n.

Steps from the cloisters into the church. Ainsworth.

GRADE, n. [Fr. grade; Sp. and It. grado; Port. grao; from L. gradus, a step; gradior, to step, to go; G. grad; D. graad; Dan. and Sw. grad, a step or degree; W. grâz, a step, degree, rank, from rhâz, a going forward or advance, Arm. radd. It may be from a common root with W. rhawd, way, course, rout; rhodiaw, to walk about; rhod, a wheel, L. rota. We observe by the Welsh that the first letter g is a prefix, and the root of the word then is Rd. We observe further, that the Latin gradior forms gressus, by a common change of d to s, or as it is in Welsh z (th.) Now if g is a prefix, then gressus (ressus) coincides with the Sw. resa, Dan. rejser, G. reisen, D. reizen, to go, to travel, to journey; D. reis, a journey or voyage. In Sw. and Dan. the verbs signify not only to travel, but to raise. Whether the latter word raise is of the same family, may be doubtful; but the others appear to belong to one radix, coinciding with the Syr. ܪܕܐ radah, to go, to walk; Ch. רדה, to open, expand, flow, instruct; Heb. to descend. A step then is a stretch, a reach of the foot. Class Rd, No. 1, 2, 26.]

1. A degree or rank in order or dignity, civil, military or ecclesiastical. J. M. Mason. Walsh. While questions, periods, and grades and privileges an never once formally discussed. S. Miller.
2. A step or degree in any ascending series; as, crimes of every grade. When we come to examine the intermediate grades. S. S. Smith.

GRADE, v.t.

To reduce to a certain degree of ascent or descent, as a road or way.

GRAD'ED, pp.

Reduced to a proper degree of ascent.

GRADE'LY, a.

Decent orderly. [Local.]

GRADE'LY, adv.

Decently; orderly. [Local.]

GRA'DI-ENT, a. [L. gradiens, gradior.]

Moving by steps; walking; as, gradient automata. Wilkins.

GRAD'ING, ppr.

Reducing to a proper degree of ascent.

GRAD'U-AL, a. [Fr. graduel, from grade.]

1. Proceeding by steps or degrees; advancing step by step; passing from one step to another; regular and slow; as, a gradual increase of knowledge; a gradual increase of light in the morning is favorable to the eyes.
2. Proceeding by degrees in a descending line or progress; as, a gradual decline.

GRAD'U-AL, n.

1. An order of steps. Dryden.
2. A grail; an ancient book of hymns and prayers. Chalmers.

GRAD-U-AL'I-TY, n.

Regular progression. [Not used.] Brown.

GRAD'UAL-LY, adv.

1. By degrees; step by step; regularly; slowly. At evening the light vanishes gradually.
2. In degree. [Not used.] Human reason doth not only gradually, but specifically differ from the fantastic reason of brutes. Grew.

GRAD'U-ATE, n.

One who has received a degree in a college or university, or from some professional incorporated society.

GRAD'U-ATE, v.i.

1. To receive a degree from a college or university.
2. To pass by degrees; to change gradually. Sandstone which graduates into gneiss. Carnelian sometimes graduates into quartz. Kirwan

GRAD'U-ATE, v.t. [It. graduare; Sp. graduar; Fr. graduer; from L. gradus, a degree.]

1. To honor with a degree or diploma, in a college or university; to confer a degree on; as, to graduate a master of arts. Carew. Wotton.
2. To mark with degrees, regular intervals, or divisions; as, to graduate a thermometer.
3. To form shades or nice differences.
4. To raise to a higher place in the scale of metals. Boyle.
5. To advance by degrees; to improve. Dyers advance and graduate their colors with salts. Brown.
6. To temper; to prepare. Diseases originating in the atmosphere act exclusively on bodies graduated to receive their impressions. Med. Repos.
7. To mark degrees or differences of any kind; as, to graduate punishment. Duponceau.
8. In chimistry, to bring fluids to a certain degree of consistency.

GRAD'U-A-TED, pp.

1. Honored with a degree or diploma from some learned society or college.
2. Marked with degrees or regular intervals; tempered.