Editing Holy Grail (section)

==Etymology==
The word {{lang|fro|graal}}, as it is spelled in its earliest appearances, comes from [[Old French]] common noun {{lang|fro|graal}} or {{lang|fro|greal}}, cognate with [[Old Provençal|Old Occitan]] {{lang|pro|grazal}} and [[Old Catalan]] {{lang|mis|gresal}}, meaning "a cup or bowl of earth, wood, or metal" (or other various types of vessels in different [[Occitan language|Occitan]] dialects).<ref name=bnf>{{Cite web|url=https://essentiels.bnf.fr/fr/litterature/moyen-age-1/ed6c3713-b2d5-4b94-8cac-a35fbd9471b1-mythe-arthurien/article/5b08fd7a-10aa-4347-be36-f623b5bddf1c-graal-et-sa-quete|title=Le Graal et sa quête|website=BnF Essentiels}}</ref><ref name="Diez, Friedrich 1864, p. 236">Diez, Friedrich. ''An etymological dictionary of the Romance languages'', Williams and Norgate, 1864, p. 236.</ref> Its origin is uncertain. One unlikely<ref name=bnf/> is the Old Welsh word ''griol''. The most commonly accepted etymology derives it from [[Latin]] {{lang|la|gradalis}} or {{lang|la|gradale}} via an earlier form, {{lang|la|cratalis}}, a derivative of {{lang|la|crater}} or {{lang|la|cratus}}, which was, in turn, borrowed from [[Ancient Greek]] {{lang|grc-Latn|[[krater]]}} ({{wikt-lang|grc|κρᾱτήρ}}, a large wine-mixing vessel).<ref name="Diez, Friedrich 1864, p. 236" /><ref>Nitze, William A. ''Concerning the Word Graal, Greal'', ''Modern Philology'', Vol. 13, No. 11 (Mar., 1916), pp. 681–684 .</ref><ref>Jung, Emma and von Franz, Marie-Louise. ''The Grail Legend'', Princeton University Press, 1998, pp. 116–117.</ref><ref>Skeat, Walter William. ''Joseph of Arimathie'', Pub. for the Early English Text Society, by N. Trübner & Co., 1871, pp. xxxvi–xxxvii</ref><ref>Mueller, Eduard. {{lang|de|Etymologisches Wörterbuch der englischen Sprache: A–K}}, ''chettler'', 1865, p. 461.</ref> Alternative suggestions include a derivative of {{lang|la|cratis}}, a name for a type of woven basket that came to refer to a dish,<ref name=barber93>Barber 2004, p. 93.</ref> or a derivative of Latin {{lang|la|gradus}} meaning {{"'}}by degree', 'by stages', applied to a dish brought to the table in different stages or services during a meal".<ref>Richard O'Gorman, "Grail" in Norris J. Lacy, ''The Arthurian Encyclopedia'', 1986</ref>

In the 15th century, English writer [[John Hardyng]] invented a fanciful new etymology for Old French {{lang|fro|san-graal}} (or {{lang|fro|san-gréal}}), meaning "Holy Grail", by parsing it as {{lang|fro|sang réal}}, meaning "royal blood".<ref>Barber 2004, p. 215.</ref><ref>Wood 2012, p. 55, 77.</ref> This etymology was used by some later medieval British writers such as [[Thomas Malory]], and became prominent in the conspiracy theory developed in the book ''[[The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail]]'', in which {{lang|fro|sang real}} refers to the [[Jesus bloodline]].<ref name=Wood77>Wood 2012, p. 77.</ref>