Webster
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Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary · 1913

Gradient

Gra′di·ent (grā′dĭ·ent), a. [L. gradiens, p. pr. of gradi to step, to go. See Grade.] 1. Moving by steps; walking; as, gradient automata. Wilkins.

2. Rising or descending by regular degrees of inclination; as, the gradient line of a railroad.

3. Adapted for walking, as the feet of certain birds.

Gra′di·ent, n. 1. The rate of regular or graded ascent or descent in a road; grade.

2. A part of a road which slopes upward or downward; a portion of a way not level; a grade.

3. The rate of increase or decrease of a variable magnitude, or the curve which represents it; as, a thermometric gradient.

Gradient post, a post or stake indicating by its height or by marks on it the grade of a railroad, highway, or embankment, etc., at that spot.

Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Noah Porter, editor (Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913). Public domain. Text as transcribed by MICRA, Inc., from Project Gutenberg. Changed for Deep Dive Bible: Greek, which our source spelled in Latin letters, set in Greek letters; entries of one spelling merged into one article; Greek words our source left out (shown as “?”), read from the 1898 printing, from the same plates (the Library of Congress’s copy), where the place could be found with certainty.