gradient

American  

[grey-dee-uhnt] / ˈgreɪ di ənt /

noun

1. the degree of inclination, or the rate of ascent or descent, in a highway, railroad, etc.

2. an inclined surface; grade; ramp.

3. Physics.

   1. the rate of change with respect to distance of a variable quantity, as temperature or pressure, in the direction of maximum change.

   2. a curve representing such a rate of change.

4. Mathematics. a differential operator that, operating upon a function of several variables, results in a vector the coordinates of which are the partial derivatives of the function. grad. ∇

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adjective

1. rising or descending by regular degrees of inclination.

2. progressing by walking; stepping with the feet as animals do.

3. of a type suitable for walking or running, as the feet of certain birds; gressorial.

gradient British  

/ ˈɡreɪdɪənt /

noun

1. Also called (esp US): grade.  a part of a railway, road, etc, that slopes upwards or downwards; inclination

2. Also called (esp US and Canadian): grade.  a measure of such a slope, esp the ratio of the vertical distance between two points on the slope to the horizontal distance between them

3. physics a measure of the change of some physical quantity, such as temperature or electric potential, over a specified distance

4. maths

   1. (of a curve) the slope of the tangent at any point on a curve with respect to the horizontal axis

   2. (of a function, f ( x, y, z )) the vector whose components along the axes are the partial derivatives of the function with respect to each variable, and whose direction is that in which the derivative of the function has its maximum value. Usually written: grad f , ∇ f or ∇ f Compare curl divergence

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adjective

1. sloping uniformly

gradient Scientific  

/ grā′dē-ənt /

1. The degree to which something inclines; a slope. A mountain road with a gradient of ten percent rises one foot for every ten feet of horizontal length.

2. The rate at which a physical quantity, such as temperature or pressure changes over a distance.

3. A operator on scalar fields yielding a vector function, where the value of the vector evaluated at any point indicates the direction and degree of change of the field at that point.

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Etymology

Origin of gradient

1635–45; < Latin gradient- (stem of gradiēns ), present participle of gradī to walk, go, equivalent to grad- walk + -i- thematic vowel + -ent- -ent

Explanation

The gradient of a surface is its slope. If you're a daredevil and you're looking for a road to fly down on your skateboard, you'll want to find one with a fairly steep gradient. In mathematics, the gradient tells you how steep a line in a graph is. In physics, when you say gradient, you're talking about how quickly something changes from one point to another. The word comes ultimately from the Latin gradus "step," and a gradient gives you a measure of the "steps" by which something changes.

Example Sentences

Darian Shirazi, managing partner at Gradient, said he personally bought shares of Cerebras on the secondary market two months ago at $100 a piece.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 27, 2026

Then the researchers built machine building models using the Gradient Boosting Decision Tree method.

From Science Daily • Mar. 25, 2024

Gradient was founded seven years ago in San Francisco with the ambition to decarbonize buildings with a window unit heat pump that can be easily installed without technicians.

From Seattle Times • Mar. 11, 2024

The Gradient model currently on the market recently jumped in price from around $2,000 to around $5,000; it’s unclear how much Gradient and Midea will charge for their cold-weather heat pumps once they reach retail.

From Slate • Aug. 12, 2023

Gradient of temperature in Earth's surface crust, 126.

From The Birth-Time of the World and Other Scientific Essays by Joly, John