degree (n.)

A GRAMMATICAL CATEGORY used to specify the extent of a comparison between ADJECTIVES or ADVERBS. A three-way contrast of GRADATION is usually recognized (POSITIVE v. COMPARATIVE v. SUPERLATIVE), but other possibilities are sometimes distinguished, e.g. an ‘equative’ degree (seen in as big as). In English, both MORPHOLOGICAL and SYNTACTIC means are used in the expression of degree, e.g. bigger/biggest but more fascinating/most fascinating.