From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishgradationgra‧da‧tion /ɡrəˈdeɪʃən/ noun [countable] formalCHANGE/BECOME DIFFERENT a small change or difference between points on a scale There are many gradations of colour between light and dark blue.
Examples from the Corpus
gradation• The film can display over 4000 gradations of color.• The construction of a gradation scheme is clearly no simple task.• With sandgrouse it lies in a delicate gradation of one muted tone into another.• Everyone inside knows or speculates endlessly on the politics of power implicit in the most minute gradations of change.• National horticultural markets have wide variations in price, seasonal effects, methods of selling and quality gradations.• The class hierarchy is alive and well in the gradations through the 250 different decorations which the Crown awards.• Sometimes the gradation is clear, and sometimes less so, but order nested within order is all around. 