Gradual

How to spell gradual

7 letters · 3 syllables

1 of the 21 people asked to spell gradual in Spelling Garden got it wrong the first time.

How to pronounce gradual

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does gradual mean?

1. adjectiveHappening slowly in small stages rather than all at once.

Gradual in a sentence

• The company planned a gradual shift to remote work over two years.

• Recovery from the injury was gradual but steady.

Where does gradual come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word descends from the Latin gradus, meaning a 'step' or 'pace', the same root that gives us 'grade', 'gradient', and even 'graduate'. From gradus came the medieval Latin gradualis, describing something that proceeds step by step rather than all at once. English adopted it in the fifteenth century, originally in a religious sense for the 'gradual', a chant sung as the deacon mounted the steps of the altar. The everyday meaning of 'happening little by little' grew naturally out of that image of advancing one step at a time. The single d and the -ual ending are the spots most worth fixing in memory, since the link to 'step' (gradus) explains the spelling more than the sound does.

How the word is built

• grad- (from Latin gradus: step)
• -ual (adjective suffix)