echelon
pronunciation
How to pronounce echelon in British English:
UK [ˈeʃəlɒn]
How to pronounce echelon in American English:
US [ˈeʃəlɑn]
-
- Noun:
- a body of troops arranged in a line
- a diffraction grating consisting of a pile of plates of equal thickness arranged stepwise with a constant offset
Word Origin
- echelon
- echelon: see scale
- echelon (n.)
- 1796, echellon, "step-like arrangement of troops," from French échelon "level, echelon," literally "rung of a ladder," from Old French eschelon, from eschiele "ladder," from Late Latin scala "stair, slope," from Latin scalae (plural) "ladder, steps," from PIE *skand- "to spring, leap" (see scan (v.)). Sense of "level, subdivision" is from World War I.
Example
- 1. Students team with a certain time plan and echelon .
- 2. Let me see your other upper echelon .
- 3. The discovery of offshore oil could thrust the country into the top echelon of oil-exporting nations
- 4. But shawn noren of the university of california at santa cruz has found evidence that echelon swimming is also a form of infant carrying .
- 5. The big appetite for risk that existed in the upper echelon just two years ago is fading , the survey found , with around 44 % of the country 's wealthiest looking to spread their risk .