grail

Etymology 1

From Middle English graal, greal, from Old French graal, greal (“cup”), from Medieval Latin gradalis, possibly corrupted over time from Latin crater (“bowl”).

noun

1. 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? 1989, 1:06:54 from the start, in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade+BR/Indiana+Jones+and+the+Last+Crusade.mp4) (Action-Adventure), spoken by Henry Jones, Sr. (Sean Connery), →OCLC
2. Something eagerly sought or quested for.
   Becoming an astronaut was his grail.
   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

Etymology 2

From Middle English grayel, from Old French grael, ultimately from Latin graduale. Doublet of gradual.

noun

1. A book of offices in the Roman Catholic Church; a gradual.
   antiphonals, missals, grails, processionals, etc. 1694, John Strype, the Memorials of Thomas Cranmer

Etymology 3

Uncertain; perhaps a reduced form of gravel.

noun

1. (poetic) Small particles of earth; gravel.

Etymology 4

Compare Old French graite slender.

noun

1. One of the small feathers of a hawk.