A gradual or stepwise variation or transition from one level, condition, or state to another; a series of graduated steps or stages.
From Late Latin gradientia, the feminine noun form of gradiens, derived from gradus. Used in technical and scientific Latin to describe progressive change.
This learned Latin term captures the idea that change rarely happens all at once—there's usually a gradientia, a gradual stepping from one state to another, which is how evolution and metamorphosis actually work.
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