Gradation

gradation

1. (in painting, drawing, or sculpture) transition from one colour, tone, or surface to another through a series of very slight changes

2. Geology the natural levelling of land as a result of the building up or wearing down of pre-existing formations

Collins Discovery Encyclopedia, 1st edition © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

gradation

[grā′dā·shən]

(geology)

The leveling of the land, or the bringing of a land surface or area to a uniform or nearly uniform grade or slope through erosion, transportation, and deposition.

Specifically, the bringing of a stream bed to a slope at which the water is just able to transport the material delivered to it.

McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Scientific & Technical Terms, 6E, Copyright © 2003 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.

particle-size distribution

A tabulation of the percentages of the various sizes of particles in a sample of soil or aggregate for concrete as determined by sieve analysis.

McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Architecture and Construction. Copyright © 2003 by McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.

The following article is from The Great Soviet Encyclopedia (1979). It might be outdated or ideologically biased.

Gradation

 

(The principle of biological perfection), a principle of the gradual development from the simple to the complex, based on the striving toward perfection found in living things; the principle was introduced by J. B. Lamarck in his theory of evolution.

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Gradation

 

a stylistic device; a series of similar words or expressions (images, similes, metaphors, and so on) that gradually emphasize and increase or, on the other hand, decrease (climax and anticlimax, respectively) the sense or emotional significance. The principle of gradation may be the device in a verse composition (in lyric poetry—for example, “The east grew white ...” by F. I. Tiutchev) or plot composition (byliny [epic folk songs] or fairy tales—for example, The Little Tower Chamber). An example of stylistic climactic gradation is “I do not regret, I do not call, I do not cry” (S. A. Esenin).

The Great Soviet Encyclopedia, 3rd Edition (1970-1979). © 2010 The Gale Group, Inc. All rights reserved.