Grail, Holy

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Grail, Holy in medieval legend, the cup or platter (also called simply the Grail) used by Christ at the Last Supper, and in which Joseph of Arimathea received Christ's blood at the Cross. Quests for it undertaken by medieval knights are described in versions of the Arthurian legends written from the early 13th century onward; it is the immaculately pure Galahad, accompanied by Bors and Perceval, who is destined to find the Holy Grail. In figurative usage, the term is used for a thing which is being earnestly pursued or sought after.

The word comes via Old French graal, from medieval Latin gradalis ‘dish’.

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