gradin

American  

[grey-din, gra-dan] / ˈgreɪ dɪn, graˈdɛ̃ /

Also gradine

noun

• gradins
  plural

1. one of a series of steps or seats raised one above another.

2. Ecclesiastical. a shelf or one of a series of shelves behind and above an altar.

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gradin British  

/ ˈɡreɪdɪn, ɡrəˈdiːn /

noun

1. a ledge above or behind an altar on which candles, a cross, or other ornaments stand

2. one of a set of steps or seats arranged on a slope, as in an amphitheatre

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• gradins
  plural

Etymology

Origin of gradin

1830–40; < French: step, ledge of altar < Italian gradino, diminutive of grado grade

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

gradin gradins

And he jest offered me six cents fer my bright, and five cents fer the rest, tips, flyin's, trash, and all, him to do the gradin'.

From The Tobacco Tiller A Tale of the Kentucky Tobacco Fields by Sarah Bell Hackley

They sed, "Yes, Mr. Hoskins, we'll hav to do some gradin'."

From Uncle Josh's Punkin Centre Stories by Cal Stewart

In passing the gradins of the ladies, he stopped to says a few kind words to an old woman who was seated there, muffled in a cloak, and the light of royalty vanished.

From Recollections of Europe by James Fenimore Cooper