Afrikaans geleidelik | ||
Albanian gradualisht | ||
Amharic ቀስ በቀስ | ||
Arabic تدريجيا | ||
Armenian աստիճանաբար | ||
Assamese লাহে লাহে | ||
Aymara juk'atjuk'aru | ||
Azerbaijani tədricən | ||
Bambara dɔɔni dɔɔni | ||
Basque pixkanaka | ||
Belarusian паступова | ||
Bengali ধীরে ধীরে | ||
Bhojpuri धीरै-धीरै | ||
Bosnian postepeno | ||
Bulgarian постепенно | ||
Catalan gradualment | ||
Cebuano hinayhinay | ||
Chinese (Simplified) 逐渐 | ||
Chinese (Traditional) 逐漸 | ||
Corsican pianu pianu | ||
Croatian postepeno | ||
Czech postupně | ||
Danish gradvist | ||
Dhivehi މަޑު މަޑުން | ||
Dogri बल्लें-बल्लें | ||
Dutch geleidelijk | ||
English gradually | ||
Esperanto iom post iom | ||
Estonian järk-järgult | ||
Ewe blewu | ||
Filipino (Tagalog) unti-unti | ||
Finnish vähitellen | ||
French progressivement | ||
Frisian stadichoan | ||
Galician gradualmente | ||
Georgian თანდათანობით | ||
German allmählich | ||
Greek σταδιακά | ||
Guarani mbeguekatúpe | ||
Gujarati ધીમે ધીમે | ||
Haitian Creole piti piti | ||
Hausa a hankali | ||
Hawaiian lohi | ||
Hebrew באופן הדרגתי | ||
Hindi धीरे - धीरे | ||
Hmong maj mam | ||
Hungarian fokozatosan | ||
Icelandic smám saman | ||
Igbo nke nta nke nta | ||
Ilocano in-inut | ||
Indonesian bertahap | ||
Irish de réir a chéile | ||
Italian gradualmente | ||
Japanese 徐々に | ||
Javanese mbaka sithik | ||
Kannada ಕ್ರಮೇಣ | ||
Kazakh біртіндеп | ||
Khmer បន្តិចម្តង | ||
Kinyarwanda buhoro buhoro | ||
Konkani सवका-सवका | ||
Korean 차례로 | ||
Krio smɔl smɔl | ||
Kurdish hêdî hêdî | ||
Kurdish (Sorani) پلە بە پلە | ||
Kyrgyz акырындык менен | ||
Lao ຄ່ອຍໆ | ||
Latin paulatimque | ||
Latvian pakāpeniski | ||
Lingala malembemalembe | ||
Lithuanian palaipsniui | ||
Luganda mpolampola | ||
Luxembourgish no an no | ||
Macedonian постепено | ||
Maithili धीरे-धीरे | ||
Malagasy tsikelikely | ||
Malay secara beransur-ansur | ||
Malayalam ക്രമേണ | ||
Maltese gradwalment | ||
Maori āta haere | ||
Marathi हळूहळू | ||
Meiteilon (Manipuri) ꯇꯞꯅ ꯇꯞꯅ | ||
Mizo zawi zawiin | ||
Mongolian аажмаар | ||
Myanmar (Burmese) တဖြည်းဖြည်းနဲ့ | ||
Nepali बिस्तारै | ||
Norwegian gradvis | ||
Nyanja (Chichewa) pang'onopang'ono | ||
Odia (Oriya) ଧୀରେ ଧୀରେ | ||
Oromo suuta suuta | ||
Pashto په تدریج سره | ||
Persian به تدریج | ||
Polish stopniowo | ||
Portuguese (Portugal, Brazil) gradualmente | ||
Punjabi ਹੌਲੀ ਹੌਲੀ | ||
Quechua as asmanta | ||
Romanian treptat | ||
Russian постепенно | ||
Samoan faifai malie | ||
Sanskrit क्रमिकवार | ||
Scots Gaelic mean air mhean | ||
Sepedi gabotsana | ||
Serbian постепено | ||
Sesotho butle-butle | ||
Shona zvishoma nezvishoma | ||
Sindhi تدريجي طور تي | ||
Sinhala (Sinhalese) ක්රමයෙන් | ||
Slovak postupne | ||
Slovenian postopoma | ||
Somali tartiib tartiib ah | ||
Spanish gradualmente | ||
Sundanese laun-laun | ||
Swahili hatua kwa hatua | ||
Swedish gradvis | ||
Tagalog (Filipino) unti-unti | ||
Tajik тадриҷан | ||
Tamil படிப்படியாக | ||
Tatar әкренләп | ||
Telugu క్రమంగా | ||
Thai ค่อยๆ | ||
Tigrinya ብኸይዲ | ||
Tsonga switsanana | ||
Turkish yavaş yavaş | ||
Turkmen kem-kemden | ||
Twi (Akan) nkakrankakra | ||
Ukrainian поступово | ||
Urdu آہستہ آہستہ | ||
Uyghur بارا-بارا | ||
Uzbek asta-sekin | ||
Vietnamese dần dần | ||
Welsh yn raddol | ||
Xhosa ngokuthe ngcembe | ||
Yiddish ביסלעכווייַז | ||
Yoruba diẹdiẹ | ||
Zulu kancane kancane |
| Language | Etymology / Notes |
|---|---|
| Afrikaans | The Afrikaans word "geleidelik" comes from the Dutch "geleidelijk", which in turn is derived from Middle Dutch "geleiden" (to lead) and "-lijk" (like). |
| Albanian | The word "gradualisht" is derived from the Latin word "gradatim", meaning "step by step". |
| Amharic | "ቀስ በቀስ" is a reduplication of "ቀስ" which means "slowly" or "gently." |
| Arabic | The word "تدريجيا" derives from the root "درج" meaning "to ascend" or "to climb in stages." |
| Azerbaijani | The word "tədricən" is derived from the Arabic word "تدريج" (tadrij), which means "step by step" or "little by little." |
| Basque | The Basque word 'pixkanaka' also means 'little by little' or 'slowly'. |
| Belarusian | The word "паступова" is derived from the word "ступень" (step), indicating a gradual process progressing step by step. |
| Bengali | The Bengali word "ধীরে ধীরে" comes from the Sanskrit words "धीरे" (slowly) and "धीरे" (gently). |
| Bosnian | "Postepeno" means "by steps" in Croatian |
| Bulgarian | The word "постепенно" is derived from the Slavic root "post", meaning "after" or "behind", and signifies a gradual or successive process. |
| Catalan | The term "gradualment" is often used in Catalan to express the idea of "by degrees". |
| Cebuano | Hinayhinay is also the root of the Cebuano word "hinay" ("softly, gently"), implying a slow and careful approach. |
| Chinese (Simplified) | 逐渐 originates from 逐步, meaning to proceed step by step. |
| Chinese (Traditional) | 逐漸 originally meant "to pursue" or "to chase". |
| Corsican | The word "pianu pianu" in Corsican is derived from the Italian "piano piano," which also means "gradually" and "softly," and ultimately comes from the Latin "planus," meaning "flat" or "even." |
| Croatian | In 18th-century Dubrovnik, the word 'postepeno' meant 'immediately, without delay'. |
| Czech | Postupně, meaning 'gradually', is a compound of two Czech words, 'postupem' and 'ně'. The word 'postupem' is derived from the Proto-Slavic word 'postupiti', meaning 'to follow in succession', while 'ně' is a negative particle used to negate the following word. Thus, 'postupně' literally means 'not in succession', i.e. 'gradually'. |
| Danish | The word "gradvist" is derived from the Latin word "gradus", meaning "step". |
| Dutch | The word "geleidelijk" is derived from the Old Saxon word "geladik", meaning "gentle" or "calm". |
| Esperanto | The word "iom post iom" literally means "from time to time" in Esperanto. |
| Estonian | The word "järk-järgult" is derived from the noun "järk" (step) and the adverb "järjest" (in order), and it originally meant "step by step". |
| Finnish | The word "vähitellen" is derived from the Finnish word "vähitellen". It can also mean "little by little" or "by degrees". |
| French | "Progressivement" derives from the Latin "progressus" meaning "to move forward". |
| Frisian | Frisian "stadichoan" comes ultimately from the Proto-Germanic adjective *stadagaz meaning "fixed" or "firm" and is related to the English word "steadfast". |
| Galician | The word "gradualmente" also refers to the stages of a disease or process. |
| German | "Allmählich" derives from “alle Male” (“every time”) |
| Greek | The word "σταδιακά" in Greek can also mean "by degrees" or "step by step". |
| Gujarati | The Gujarati word "ધીમે ધીમે" can also mean "slowly", "gently", or "carefully" depending on the context. |
| Haitian Creole | The Haitian Creole word “piti piti” comes from the West African language Fon, where “piti” means “a little” or “slowly”. |
| Hausa | The word "a hankali" in Hausa, meaning "gradually", likely derives from the Arabic word "hankalī", which means "prudent" or "wise". |
| Hawaiian | "Lohi" can also mean "slightly" or "a little," a useful term to describe something that's barely perceptible. |
| Hebrew | באופן הדרגתי means 'gradually' but can also be a legal term, 'progressively'. |
| Hindi | The word "धीरे - धीरे" is derived from the Sanskrit word "dhīra," meaning "slow" or "steady." |
| Hmong | The Hmong word "maj mam" also refers to "by steps". |
| Hungarian | The word "fokozatosan" is related to the word "fok", which means "step" or "degree". |
| Icelandic | Possibly related to “smá” meaning “slowly” or “softly”. |
| Igbo | The phrase 'nke nta nke nta' derives from the concept of gradual accumulation, each small increment contributing to the final outcome. |
| Indonesian | The word "bertahap" is derived from the root word "tahap", which means "step" or "level". |
| Italian | "Gradualmente" in Italian derives from the Latin "gradus" (meaning "step") and "-mente" (meaning "in a manner"), together meaning "step by step" or "by degrees". |
| Japanese | "徐々に" refers to "by degrees" or "poco a poco" in music. |
| Javanese | "Mbaka sithik" is derived from the root words "mbaka" (to do something repeatedly) and "sithik" (a small insect, or a way of moving or doing something subtly or imperceptibly). In some contexts, "mbaka sithik" can also be taken to imply "stealthily, in a secretive or cunning way". |
| Kannada | The word "ಕ್ರಮೇಣ" (kramaṇa) is derived from the Sanskrit word "क्रम" (krama), meaning "step" or "order", and the suffix "-ēṇa", meaning "in a gradual manner". |
| Kazakh | The word "біртіндеп" comes from the Kazakh verb "бірту" meaning "to come together, to unite" and the suffix "-деп" indicating gradual or continuous action. |
| Korean | "차례로" has the alternate meaning of "in turn". |
| Kurdish | The word "hêdî hêdî" is composed of the words "hêd" (quiet) and "hêd" (slowly), and it can also mean "calmly" or "gently". |
| Latin | The Latin word "paulatimque" is derived from "paulus" (small) and "atim" (at a time), meaning "little by little". |
| Latvian | The word "pakāpeniski" comes from "pakāpe" (step) and "-iski" (-ly), indicating a gradual process. |
| Lithuanian | "Palaipsniui" derives from the Proto-Baltic word "*palaipsnis," meaning "one by one, gradually." |
| Luxembourgish | The word "no an no" is derived from the German phrase "nach und nach" which means "little by little" or "by degrees". |
| Macedonian | The word "постепено" is derived from the Proto-Slavic word "*postipenъ", which means "step by step". |
| Malagasy | The word "tsikelikely" can also be used to mean "to creep" or "to sneak" in Malagasy. |
| Malay | The word "secara beransur-ansur" is derived from the Sanskrit word "ans" which means "slowly" and "ur" which means "to move". |
| Malayalam | The word "ക്രമേണ" comes from the Sanskrit word "क्रम" (krama), which means "order" or "step", and the suffix "-േണ" (-ena), which means "in a certain manner". This implies a gradual or orderly progression. |
| Maltese | The etymology of the Maltese word "gradwalment" ("gradually") is from the French word "graduellement". It can also be used as a noun to describe a religious book containing parts of the mass, typically used in the Catholic church. |
| Marathi | The word "हळूहळू" is also used as an adverb to describe something that is performed in a slow or leisurely manner, such as "हळूहळू चालत आहे" ("he is walking slowly"). |
| Mongolian | The word "аажмаар" in Mongolian can also mean "with difficulty", "with effort", "patiently", or "perseveringly." |
| Nepali | The word "बिस्तारै" in Nepali is derived from the Sanskrit word "विस्तार" (vistāra), meaning "extension" or "expansion." |
| Norwegian | The word "gradvis" is derived from the Latin word "gradus" meaning "step" and is cognate with the English word "grade" |
| Nyanja (Chichewa) | The word 'pang'onopang'ono' is a reduplicated form of the word 'pang'ono', which means 'small'. |
| Pashto | په تدریج سره has no alternate meanings in Pashto, and is literally translated to “gradually” in English. |
| Persian | The Persian word "به تدریج" can also mean "by degrees" or "step by step." |
| Polish | The word "stopniowo" comes from the word "stopień" (step), and it originally meant "step by step". |
| Portuguese (Portugal, Brazil) | The word "gradualmente" is derived from the Latin word "gradus", meaning "step". |
| Romanian | The word "treptat" comes from the Latin "trepidus" meaning "trembling" or "afraid". |
| Russian | "Постепенно" can also mean "step by step" or "little by little" in Russian. |
| Samoan | The word "faifai" can also refer to the Samoan process of making tapa cloth with a wooden mallet or beater and a wooden anvil. |
| Scots Gaelic | The word "mean air mhean" also means "at the least" and "at the same time" in Scots Gaelic. |
| Serbian | The word "постепено" is derived from the Proto-Slavic root "*po-stopъ", meaning "step by step". |
| Sesotho | The word "butle-butle" can also mean "little by little" or "slowly but surely" in Sesotho. |
| Shona | The word "zvishoma nezvishoma" is derived from the verb "kushoma", meaning "to grow", and the prefix "ku", meaning "to". It literally means "to grow by growing". It can also mean "little by little" or "gradually". |
| Sindhi | The word "تدريجي طور تي" can also mean "step by step" or "incrementally" in Sindhi. |
| Slovak | The word "postupne" derives from the Proto-Slavic "*postǫpati", meaning "to step after." |
| Slovenian | The word 'postopoma' comes from the Proto-Slavic word 'Postupъ', which also means little by little or step by step. |
| Somali | The phrase "tartiib tartiib ah" can also be used to describe something "smooth" or "gently sloping." |
| Spanish | "Gradualmente" ultimately derives from the Latin word "gradus" (step), which also gave rise to words like "grade" and "gradient" in English. |
| Sundanese | "Laun-laun" in Sundanese literally means "rolling". Hence, it describes a process that happens little by little over time, as if rolled out. |
| Swahili | "Hatuakwa" derives from the root "-twa-" to spread and "hatua" a step. |
| Swedish | "Gradviss" is derived from the Latin word "gradus", meaning "step", and is often used in the context of progress made in small increments. |
| Tagalog (Filipino) | "Unti-unti" literally means "one by one" in Tagalog, emphasizing the progression of small steps towards a larger outcome. |
| Tajik | Tadrijjan also refers to a Persian music genre known for its gradual increase in tempo and intensity. |
| Telugu | "క్రమంగా" is also used to refer to the process of arranging things in a specific order. |
| Thai | "ค่อยๆ" can also mean "slowly" or "by and by." |
| Turkish | "Yavaş yavaş" also has the alternate meaning "step by step" in Turkish |
| Ukrainian | The word "поступово" is derived from the Proto-Slavic word *postupъ, which means "step" or "stride". |
| Urdu | In the Persian language, the word "آهستہ آهسته" literally means "slowly, slowly," emphasizing its gradual nature. |
| Uzbek | The word "asta-sekin" can also mean "at last" or "in the end" in Uzbek. |
| Vietnamese | "Dần dần" is derived from the Sino-Vietnamese phrase "循序漸進" (xún-xù-tiến-tấn), which literally means "following the order and making progress step by step." |
| Welsh | The Welsh idiom 'yn raddol' literally means 'in a row', indicating a gradual progression. |
| Xhosa | In an alternate meaning, "ngokuthe ngcembe" could refer to "little by little with determination". |
| Yiddish | The Yiddish word "ביסלעכווייַז" is derived from Slavic languages and is composed of the root "bisel", meaning "a little," and the suffix "-echvayz," meaning "in a gradual or incremental manner." |
| Yoruba | The word "diẹdiẹ" is derived from the Yoruba word "dì" meaning "to eat" and "ẹdiẹ" meaning "a little bit". |
| Zulu | The Zulu phrase "kancane kancane" literally means "little by little," emphasizing the incremental nature of the process. |
| English | The word "gradually" originates from the Latin word "gradus", meaning "step", reflecting the sense of a gradual progression or change. |