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

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.

Notitiam primosque gradus vicinia fecit; Tempore crevit amor, tædæ quoque jure coissent; Sed vetuere patres, quod non potuere vetare, Ex æquo captis ardebant mentibus ambo.

From The Tatler, Volume 3 by Various

There can be no doubt that it was this passage which induced St. Liguori to conclude that if the gradus propinquior were the first or second, it should be expressed in the petition.

From The Irish Ecclesiastical Record, Volume 1, June 1865 by Various

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

From The Hindu-Arabic Numerals by Karpinski, Louis Charles

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

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