gradatsiooni

Gradatsioon, or gradatsioon/gradation, denotes a gradual progression or an ordered set of levels between states, values, or categories. The core idea is a smooth or stepwise change rather than a sudden jump, often described as a continuum along a scale. The term comes from Latin gradus, meaning step, and appears in many languages with related meanings.

In design, art, and digital media, gradatsioon commonly refers to a color gradient: a seamless transition from one color or tone to another. Gradients can be linear, radial, or angular, and are controlled by color stops and interpolation rules to produce subtle blends used in backgrounds, shading, and visual effects.

In linguistics and semantics, gradatsioon relates to degree or intensity. It covers marked expressions of comparison or emphasis, such as degrees of adjective or adverbial emphasis, and how languages encode varying strength or extent in meaning.

In earth sciences and civil engineering, gradatsioon describes the particle-size distribution of granular materials. A well-graded (or well-sorted) mixture contains a broad range of sizes, which influences compaction, stability, and drainage. Gradation is typically assessed through sieve analysis and represented by a gradation curve.

In biology and ecology, gradatsioon can describe continuous variation across a trait or a gradient of environmental conditions, rather than discrete categories, highlighting how organisms or ecosystems transition along physical or temporal scales.

Overall, gradatsiooni emphasizes transitions, scales, and ordered variation. It is a versatile concept used to analyze how small changes accumulate into distinct states or how different properties align along a continuum.