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, aircraft, 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

Translations

échelon

escalón

diziliş

escalão

Staffel

scaglione

Staffelung

κλιμάκιο

Abteilung

κλιμακοειδής διάταξη στρατού

corps

détachement

ιεραρχία επιχείρησης

Rang

Pronounced as (IPA)

/ˈɛʃ.ə.lɒn/

Etymology

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