grail means the Holy Grail. It carries an Arena rating of 1500, earned across 2 head-to-head judged battles.
Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, grail ranks #797 of 14,340 for Most Vivid Words, #2,328 of 14,438 for Most Storied Words, #2,332 of 14,308 for Most Malleable Words, #2,382 of 14,297 for Words That Escaped Their Books.
grail is pronounced /ɡɹeɪl/.
Why “grail” is a great word
The ultimate, often elusive, object of a profound and devoted quest. From Middle English *graal, greal*, from Old French *graal, greal* (“cup, basin”), from Medieval Latin *gradalis* (“dish”), of uncertain further origin, possibly from Latin *crater* (“bowl”); first attested in English c. 1300. Unlike a "goal," which implies a specific, attainable finish line, or a "chalice," which is merely a ceremonial vessel, the grail is the mythic prize that sanctifies the pursuit itself. It is the whispered rumor in the dark wood, the faint glow at the edge of the manuscript, the single missing piece that would make the world cohere—a compass needle trembling toward a north star just beyond the rim of the world.
Etymology
From Middle English graal, greal, from Old French graal, greal (“cup”), from Medieval Latin gradalis, possibly corrupted over time from Latin crater (“bowl”).
noun
- The Holy Grail.“The quest for the Grail is not archeology. It's a race against evil. If it is captured by the Nazis, the armies of darkness will march all over the face of the earth. Do you understand me?”
- Something eagerly sought or quested for.“Becoming an astronaut was his grail.”
- A book of offices in the Roman Catholic Church; a gradual.“antiphonals, missals, grails, processionals, etc.”
- Small particles of earth; gravel.“Hereof this gentle knight vnweeting was, / And lying downe vpon the sandie graile, / Drunke of the streame, as cleare as cristall glas [...].”
- One of the small feathers of a hawk.
Words closest in meaning
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