GRAd

Grad is a term with multiple meanings across different contexts.

In geometry and measurement, the gradian (also called grade or gon) is a unit of angular measure. It is defined as one one-hundredth of a right angle, so a full circle contains 400 grads and 1 grad equals 0.9 degrees. The gradian arose during efforts to decimalize measurements and was used in various European and post-Soviet systems; today radians are more common in scientific work, though grads still appear in some surveying and historical references.

In military terminology, Grad refers to the BM-21 Grad, a Soviet-era self-propelled multiple rocket launcher introduced in the 1960s. Mounted on a truck, it fires 122 mm rockets and has been widely used and exported, producing numerous variants. The system remains associated with Soviet and Russian artillery and has seen service in multiple conflicts around the world.

In education, grad is common shorthand for graduate or graduation, used in informal contexts such as “grad student” or “graduation ceremony.” In mathematics and computer science, grad is also used as a short form for the gradient operator in some texts, typically written as grad f to denote the gradient of a function.

Linguistically, grad is a root in Slavic languages meaning “city.” It appears in many place names and historical terms, reflecting the use of grad as a geographical descriptor in toponyms across the region.