[ grə'deɪʃ(ə)n ]
■ noun
1》 a scale of successive changes, stages, or degrees.
↘a stage in such a scale.
2》 a minute change from one shade, tone, or colour to another.
3》 Linguistics another term for ablaut .
Derivatives
gradate verb
~al adjective
~ally adverb
Origin
C16: from L. gradatio(n-) , based on gradus 'step'.