gradus

¹ American  

[grey-duhs] / ˈgreɪ dəs /

noun

Music.

plural

graduses

1. a work consisting wholly or in part of exercises of increasing difficulty.

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gradus ² American  

[grey-duhs] / ˈgreɪ dəs /

noun

plural

graduses

1. a dictionary of prosody, especially one that gives word quantities and poetic phrases and that is intended to aid students in the writing of Latin and Greek verse.

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gradus British  

/ ˈɡreɪdəs /

noun

1. a book of études or other musical exercises arranged in order of increasing difficulty

2. prosody a dictionary or textbook of prosody for use in writing Latin or Greek verse

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Etymology

Origin of gradus¹

< Latin: grade, step

Origin of gradus²

First recorded in 1755–65; after Gradus ad Parnassum (a step to Parnassus), Latin title of a dictionary of prosody much used in English public schools during the 18th and 19th centuries

Example Sentences

Certain Thomists1193 describe it as a maior radicatio in subiecto, while the majority of theologians hold that it is simply an additio gradus ad gradum.

From Grace, Actual and Habitual A Dogmatic Treatise by Preuss, Arthur

Et hoc manifestum est in nobem figuris, quibus designant unumquemque gradum cuiuslibet gradus.

From The Hindu-Arabic Numerals by Karpinski, Louis Charles

The two phrases undoubtedly point back to a similar gradus, to a similar traditional stock phraseology, and to similar beliefs: that is all.

From Beowulf An Introduction to the Study of the Poem with a Discussion of the Stories of Offa and Finn by Chambers, R. W.

Comere caput in gradus et annulos; compare with Tibull. iii. 2,

From Döderlein's Hand-book of Latin Synonymes by Döderlein, Ludwig

The Bondavara Railway was the gradus ad Parnassum.

From Black Diamonds by Jókai, Mór