Gradual /(?)/
Grad·u·al
Gradual
a.
-
Proceeding by steps or degrees; advancing, step by step, as in ascent or descent or from one state to another; regularly progressive; slow; as, a gradual increase of knowledge; a gradual decline.
Creatures animate with gradual life Of growth, sense, reason, all summed up in man.
Gradual
n.
- An antiphon or responsory after the epistle, in the Mass, which was sung on the steps, or while the deacon ascended the steps. (R. C. Ch.)
- A series of steps. [Obs.]