From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:
Gradient \Gra"di*ent\, n.
1. The rate of regular or graded ascent or descent in a road;
grade.
[1913 Webster]
2. A part of a road which slopes upward or downward; a
portion of a way not level; a grade.
[1913 Webster]
3. The rate of increase or decrease of a variable magnitude,
or the curve which represents it; as, a thermometric
gradient.
4. (Chem., Biochem.) The variation of the concentration of a
chemical substance in solution through some linear path;
also called concentration gradient; -- usually measured in
concentration units per unit distance. Concentration
gradients are created naturally, e.g. by the diffusion of
a substance from a point of high concentration toward
regions of lower concentration within a body of liquid; in
laboratory techniques they may be made artificially.
[PJC]
gradient maker (Biochem.) a device which creates a
concentration gradient in a solution within some
apparatus; -- used, e. g., for separation of biochemical
substances.
[PJC]
Gradient post, a post or stake indicating by its height or
by marks on it the grade of a railroad, highway, or
embankment, etc., at that spot. Gradin
From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:
Gradient \Gra"di*ent\, a. [L. gradiens, p. pr. of gradi to step,
to go. See Grade.]
1. Moving by steps; walking; as, gradient automata.
--Wilkins.
[1913 Webster]
2. Rising or descending by regular degrees of inclination;
as, the gradient line of a railroad.
[1913 Webster]
3. Adapted for walking, as the feet of certain birds.
[1913 Webster]
From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:
del \del\ n. (Math.)
a differential operator which, operating on a function of
several variables, gives the sum of the partial derivatives
of the function with respect to the three orthogonal spatial
coordinates; -- also called the gradient or grad. It is
represented by an inverted Greek capital delta ([nabla]), and
is thus because of its shape also called nabla, meaning
harp in Hebrew.
[PJC]
From WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006) [wn]:
gradient
n 1: a graded change in the magnitude of some physical quantity
or dimension
2: the property possessed by a line or surface that departs from
the horizontal; "a five-degree gradient" [syn: gradient,
slope]