Origin: Latin suffix -al
Incremental has 2 different meanings across 1 category:
increasing gradually by regular degrees or additions
"lecturers enjoy...steady incremental growth in salary"
Pertaining to an increment.
"The incremental changes in their savings account reflected each small deposit made during the month."
In plain English: Incremental means something that happens gradually by adding small amounts at a time instead of all at once.
"We made incremental progress by fixing small problems each week until everything was working perfectly again."
The word incremental comes from the noun increment with the suffix -al added to it. It entered English as a straightforward formation meaning something that increases by small amounts.