echelon

Meaning

Noun

1. A level or rank in an organization, profession, or society.
2. A line of riders seeking maximum drafting in a crosswind, resulting in a diagonal line across the road.
3. A formation of troops, ships, etc., in diagonal parallel rows.

Verb

To form troops into an echelon.

Adj

Of a matrix: having undergone Gaussian elimination with the result that the leading coefficient or pivot (that is, the first nonzero number from the left) of a nonzero row is to the right of the pivot of the row above it, giving rise to a stepped appearance in the matrix.

Synonyms

instance

rank

class

element

unit

gradation

corps

link

🔗

position

cohesion

rung

scaling

social standing

status

echelonment

social stratum

echelle

force

Hyphenated as

ech‧e‧lon

Pronounced as (IPA)

/ˈɛʃ.ə.lɒn/

Etymology

Borrowed from French échelon (“rung; echelon”), from échelle (“ladder”) + -on (“suffix forming diminutives”). Échelle is derived from Latin scāla (“ladder”), from scandō (“to ascend, climb”), from Proto-Indo-European *skend- (“to jump”).