Lewis Short
clīmax (noun F) = κλῖμαξ: (a ladder)
* A rhetorical figure, consisting in a gradual increase in force of expression, a climax (pure Lat. gradatio), Mart. Cap. 5, § 536 (in Quint. 9, 3, 54, used as Greek, and transl. by gradatio).
Charlton T. Lewis, Charles Short, A Latin Dictionary