Definition of "gradual"

gradual

/ˈɡɹadʒuəl/

adjective
comparative more gradual, superlative most gradual
1. Proceeding or advancing by small, slow, regular steps or degrees
  Quotations
  Creatures animate with gradual life / Of growth, sense, reason, all summed up in man.
  1667, John Milton, “Book IX”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], […]; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873,
noun
plural graduals
1. (Christianity) An antiphon or responsory after the epistle, in the Mass, which was sung on the steps, or while the deacon ascended the steps.
2. (Christianity) A service book containing the musical portions of the Mass.