gradus

¹

[grey-duhs]

noun

Music.

plural

graduses 

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

gradus

²

[grey-duhs]

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.

gradus

/ 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

Word History and Origins

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

Word History and Origins

Origin of gradus¹

C18: shortened from Latin Gradus ad Parnassum a step towards Parnassus, a dictionary of prosody used in the 18th and 19th centuries

Example Sentences

For example, there’s a joke toward the end about how John Gradus is clearly a fake name: The reference is never elucidated, and you’ll only get the joke if you know the phrase gradus ad parnassum means “a step toward Parnassus,” which is the mountain where Apollo and the Muses live in Greek myth, and that the phrase is often used by scholars to indicate a process of gradual mastery over a subject.

From Los Angeles Times

So John Gradus is a journeyer in his own right, learning where he went wrong in life to reach the Lethe and reincarnate.

From Los Angeles Times

“Gradus ad Parnassum” has for centuries been a name for artistic instruction guides and studies, as well as a seminal counterpoint treatise by Johann Joseph Fux, whose resplendent Chaconne is Rondeau’s penultimate track.

From New York Times

The album’s form is a chronological arch, bookended by Palestrina ricercars from the Renaissance and receding back in time after advancing to a 20th-century midpoint: a ruminative, persuasively fluid “Doctor Gradus ad Parnassum,” Debussy’s nod to the “Gradus” exercise tradition.

From New York Times

He plays a pair of pieces from Muzio Clementi’s “Gradus” collection, and flanks the Debussy with little-played, moodily lyrical Beethoven preludes.

From New York Times