graduation
(grædjuːˈeɪʃən)
[f. graduate v.: see -ation.]
The action of graduating.
1. a. The action or process of dividing into degrees or other proportionate divisions on a graduated scale. b. pl. Lines employed to indicate degrees of latitude and longitude, quantity, etc.; sing. † a single line on which these are marked; also collectively, the aggregate of lines employed. c. The manner in which something is graduated. † d. Position on a map as indicated by degrees. Obs.
| a. 1833 Herschel Astron. ii. 105 The result will be liable to two sources of error—that of graduation and that of observation. 1837 Whewell Hist. Induct. Sci. II. 269 The slightest casualty happening to such an instrument, or any doubt whether the method of graduation has been rightly applied, make it unfit for the jealous scrupulosity of modern astronomy. 1869 Roscoe Elem. Chem. (1871) 27 The graduation and use of thermometers. 1880 Blyth in Encycl. Brit. XI. 27/2 |
| b. 1594 Blundevil Exerc. vii. xxxi. (1636) 702 The line of degrees of Latitude, otherwise called the Graduation of the Card. 1611 Speed Hist. Gt. Brit. v. v. 2 The length thereof, measured by the graduations to both extremes. 1773 Gentl. Mag. XLIII. 115 The experiments which he has made..have enabled him to form a graduation for the thermometer of quick-silver that really expresses equal differences of heat. 1812 Woodhouse Astron. xl. 390 By reading off its graduations. 1849 Herschel in Man. Sci. Enq. 287 The graduation is in the stem of the screw, which is prolonged to receive and defend it. 1875 Knight Dict. Mech. 1001/1 Sometimes the stopper is hollow, forms a cup, and has graduations for doses of certain amounts. |
| transf. 1874 Edin. Rev. No. 285. 92 Moving..among the stars, and..marking its course over those illuminated graduations of the nocturnal sky. |
| c. 1653 H. Cogan tr. Pinto's Trav. x. 32 As may easily be seen by the cards and globes of the world, if so be their graduation be true. 1860 Tyndall Glac. i. xxiv. 169 A thermometer, the graduation of which..he feared was not low enough. |
| d. 1611 Speed Theat. Gt. Brit. v. (1614) 9/2 [Chichester] whose graduation for Latitude is remooved from the Equator unto the degree fiftie, fiftie five minutes. |
2. a. Arrangement in degrees or gradations; ‘regular progression by succession of degrees’ (J.).
| 1658 Rowland Moufet's Theat. Ins. 1051 Whence they [Scorpions] are so forcible with poyson, and have a kinde of graduation (that I may use Paracelsus) in the use of it. 1692 Tryon Good House-w. ii. (ed. 2) 27 Diseases that have..crept on by degrees..will require the like Graduation in the Cure. 1701 Grew Cosmol. Sacra ii. vii. 72 The graduation of the Parts of the Universe, is likewise necessary to the Perfection of the whole. 1865 Grote Plato I. xviii. 524 Graduation, or ordination of objects as former and latter, first, second, third, etc. 1868 M. Pattison Academ. Org. iv. 73, I do not regret the abolition of the graduation of rank. |
b. An elevation by degrees into a higher condition; also quasi-
concr. a step in the process, a degree.
| 1643 Sir T. Browne Relig. Med. i. §38 We enjoy a being and life in three worlds, wherein we receive most manifest graduations. 1657 G. Starkey Helmont's Vind. Ep. to Rdr., A strong Diaphoretick, curing the Cough and all Feavers and Agues, except of the highest graduation. 1818 Byron Ch. Har. iv. clvii, Until thy mind..unroll In mighty graduations part by part, The glory which at once upon thee did not dart. 1863 Mrs. C. Clarke Shaks. Char. xvii. 445 [Justice] Silence [in 2 Hen. IV] is an embryo of a man,—a molecule,—a graduation from nonentity towards intellectual being. |
† 3. Alch.,
Chem., etc.
a. The process of tempering the composition of a substance to a required degree; the process of refining an element, a metal.
Obs.| 1477 Norton Ord. Alch. v. in Ashm. (1652) 57 So manie graduations your wisdome must attaine. 1570 Dee Math. Pref. 7 In their [Phisicians] Art of Graduation, and compounde medicines. 1646 Sir T. Browne Pseud. Ep. ii. iii. 68 Of greater repugnancy unto reason is that which he delivers concerning its graduation, that heated in fire & often extinguished in oyle of Mars or Iron, it acquires an ability to extract or draw forth a naile fastened in a wall. 1669 W. Simpson Hydrol. Chym. 57 Degrees of the graduation of the sulphurs. 1683 Pettus Fleta Min. i. (1686) 211 If you will do something more for the Graduation sake it may be done. |
b. The process of concentrating (brine, etc.) by evaporation. Also
attrib.| 1839 Ure Dict. Arts 1087 Sea-water..may be concentrated..by graduation. At Salza, near Schönebeck, the graduation-house is 5817 feet long. |
4. Gunnery. (See
quot.)
| 1828 J. M. Spearman Brit. Gunner (ed. 2) 380 The horizontal column at the bottom of the table..is the graduation, or common difference, of the several piles. |
† 5. U.S. Railways. Formerly used for
grading,
gradient.
| 1840 Tanner Canals & Rail Roads U.S. 163 The maximum graduation..being about thirty feet per mile. Ibid. 249 Graduation, the act of modifying or adjusting a roadway into a particular line. In rail-road making, it signifies the process by which a required grade is obtained. |
6. The action of receiving or conferring a university degree, or a certificate of qualification from some recognized authority. Also, the ceremony of conferring degrees. Chiefly
Sc. and
U.S. Also
attrib.| a 1639 Spottiswood Hist. Ch. Scot. iii. (1655) 163 Every Earl's son at his entry should give 40s. with so much at his graduation. 1723 Wodrow Corr. (1843) III. 29 In a very little time after his graduation, he was advanced to be a Regent or Professor of Philosophy in that University. 1776 Adam Smith W.N. v. i. iii. ii. II. 361 There was nothing equivalent to the privileges of graduation, and to have attended any of those schools was not necessary, in order to be permitted to practise any particular trade or profession. 1858 Masson Milton (1859) I. 183 The most important formality connected with the graduation. 1876 Grant Burgh Sch. Scot. ii. v. 172 The rector [of the grammar School of Aberdeen] indulged the boys with..plays..sometimes at the graduation. 1901 Daily News 2 Mar. 4/7 There are only seven signatures of Milton known, the first occurring in the Graduation Book of Cambridge, 1628–9. 1903 N.Y. Times 7 Oct. 6 The annual graduation exercises of the schoolship St. Mary's were held last night on board the ship. 1906 M. E. W. Freeman By Light of Soul 217 Maria dressed herself in her graduation gown. |