Grail Meaning
/ɡɹeɪl/Definition, CEFR level C1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
Listen pronunciation
Definition
nounThe Holy Grail.
nounSomething eagerly sought or quested for.
Sentence Examples
The bandits stole the Holy Grail.
The researchers believe they may have found the Holy Grail of cancer research.
Many people say that the Holy Grail is just a legend.
CEFR Practice Quiz
The ____ of the treasure hunt was a golden box.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
In Arthurian legend, the Holy ____ is a sacred vessel sought by many brave knights during their heroic quests.
Word Origin & History
From Middle English graal, greal, from Old French graal, greal (“cup”), from Medieval Latin gradalis, possibly corrupted over time from Latin crater (“bowl”).
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"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?"
— 1989, 1:06:54 from the start, in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade^(https://archive.org/details/movie-hollywood-720p-sub-indonesia_202209/Indiana+Jones+and+the+Last+Crusade+(1989)+BR/Indiana+Jones+and+the+Last+Crusade.mp4) (Action-Adventure), spoken by Henry Jones, Sr. (Sean Connery), →OCLC:
"How many of them had found the item they dreamt of, their personal grails?"
— 2002, Zadie Smith, The Autograph Man, Penguin Books (2003), page 214:
"antiphonals, missals, grails, processionals, etc."
— 1694, John Strype, the Memorials of Thomas Cranmer:
"Hereof this gentle knight vnweeting was, / And lying downe vpon the sandie graile, / Drunke of the streame, as cleare as cristall glas [...]."
— 1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book I, Canto VII”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC:
Explore More C1 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
The ____ of the treasure hunt was a golden box.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
In Arthurian legend, the Holy ____ is a sacred vessel sought by many brave knights during their heroic quests.