OXFORD DICTIONARY
gradient, n.
1 a a stretch of road, railway, etc., that slopes from the horizontal. b the amount of such a slope.
2 the rate of rise or fall of temperature, pressure, etc., in passing from one region to another.
prob. formed on GRADE after salient
THESAURUS
gradient
bank, bevel, bezel, chute, easy slope, fleam, gentle slope, glacis, grade, hanging gardens, helicline, hillside, inclination, incline, inclined plane, launching ramp, lean, leaning, pitch, ramp, rise, rising, scarp, shelving beach, side, slant, slope, steep slope, stiff climb, talus, tilt, uprise, uprising, vertical height
ROGET THESAURUS
gradient
Obliquity
N
obliquity, inclination, slope, slant, crookedness, slopeness, leaning, bevel, tilt, bias, list, twist, swag, cant, lurch, distortion, bend, tower of Pisa, acclivity, rise, ascent,
gradient, khudd, rising ground, hill, bank, declivity, downhill, dip, fall, devexity, gentle slope, rapid slope, easy ascent, easy descent, shelving beach, talus, monagne Russe, facilis descensus averni.