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Added 9 October 2026

grade

/ɡɹeɪd/ noun

Latin root: gradus Wiktionary

noun Definition from WordNet 3.1, Princeton University. Pronunciation from Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org. More about grade at Wordnik → Where our words come from →

A body of students who are taught together.
early morning classes are always sleepy
A relative position or degree of value in a graded group.
lumber of the highest grade
The gradient of a slope or road or other surface.
the road had a steep grade

verb

Assign a rank or rating to.
how would you rank these students?
Level to the right gradient.
Assign a grade or rank to, according to one's evaluation.
grade tests

Origin

Borrowed from Middle French grade (“a grade, degree”), from Latin gradus (“a step, pace, degree”), from Proto-Italic *graðus, from Proto-Indo-European *gʰradʰ-, *gʰredʰ- (“to walk, go”). Doublet of gradus. Cognate with Gothic 𐌲𐍂𐌹𐌸𐍃 (griþs, “step, grade”), Bavarian Gritt (“step, stride”), Lithuanian gri̇̀diju (“to go, wander”).

From Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org (CC BY-SA)

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