Gradus

Gradus is a Latin noun meaning step, pace, degree, or rank. In classical and medieval usage it conveys the idea of a stage in a sequence or a level of quality or measurement. Because of its broad meaning, gradus appears in a range of scholarly and literary expressions in Latin and in translations of Latin terms into other languages.

In cultural and scholarly contexts, gradus is encountered in famous titles such as Gradus ad Parnassum, the 18th-century musical treatise by Johann Joseph Fux on counterpoint. The word in such uses evokes the notion of climbing a ladder of mastery, with each “step” representing a successive level of skill or understanding. Beyond this, gradus functions as the literal Latin word for degrees or steps in various academic or formal contexts, especially when Latin terms are used to describe concepts in science, philosophy, or literature.

In geometry and surveying, gradus has been used as a unit of angular measure, closely related to the modern grad (also called gon or grade). In this system, there are 400 grads in a full circle, so 1 grad equals 0.9 degrees. While the degree remains the predominant unit in most modern contexts, the grad was adopted in particular technical fields and historical texts, especially in parts of Europe.

In summary, gradus is a versatile Latin term that denotes steps or degrees and has found specialized use in music theory, classical scholarship, and historical angular measurement. Today, its usage is mainly confined to Latin phrases and technical contexts rather than everyday language.