echelon
Americannoun
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echelons
plural
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a level of command, authority, or rank.
After years of service, she is now in the upper echelon of city officials.
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a level of worthiness, achievement, or reputation.
studying hard to get into one of the top echelon colleges.
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Military. a formation of troops, ships, airplanes, etc., in which groups of soldiers or individual vehicles or craft are arranged in parallel lines, either with each line extending to the right of the one in front right echelon or with each line extending to the left of the one in front left echelon, so that the whole presents the appearance of steps.
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Military. one of the groups of a formation so arranged.
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Archaic. any structure or group of structures arranged in a steplike form.
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Also called echelon grating. Spectroscopy. a diffraction grating that is used in the resolution of fine structure lines and consists of a series of plates of equal thickness stacked in staircase fashion.
verb (used with or without object)
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echelons,
present (3rd person singular)
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echeloned,
past participle, past
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echeloning
present participle
noun
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a level of command, responsibility, etc (esp in the phrase the upper echelons )
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military
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a formation in which units follow one another but are offset sufficiently to allow each unit a line of fire ahead
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a group formed in this way
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physics a type of diffraction grating used in spectroscopy consisting of a series of plates of equal thickness arranged stepwise with a constant offset
verb
Pop Culture
—Row echelon form: In linear algebra, a simplified form of a matrix in which each non-zero row has more leading zeros than the previous row. —ECHELON: Code name of a global surveillance system developed by the United States National Security Agency (NSA). It operates by intercepting and processing international communications transmitted via communications satellites. —Third Echelon: A fictional sub-group of the NSA created by Tom Clancy in his Splinter Cell book series.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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echelonsimple
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echelonssimple
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have echelonedperfect
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has echelonedperfect
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am echeloningprogressive
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are echeloningprogressive
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is echeloningprogressive
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have been echeloningperfect progressive
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has been echeloningperfect progressive
Past
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echelonedsimple
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had echelonedperfect
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was echeloningprogressive
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were echeloningprogressive
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had been echeloningperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of echelon
First recorded in 1790–1800; from French échelon, originally “rung of a ladder,” from Old French eschelon, equivalent to esch(i)ele “ladder” (from Latin scāla + -on noun suffix; see scale 3)
Explanation
An echelon is a stepped formation with objects arranged in a diagonal. Birds flying in a V shape create echelons so that they can draft behind each other and conserve energy — except for the guy up front, who’s super tired. Echelon patterns are often used by the military, with rows of tanks, troops, or aircraft arranged behind and to the left or behind and to the right of the row ahead. Echelon can also refer to a particular level or rank in a group or society. If you win the Olympics, you’ve reached the upper echelon of athletics. If you win a hot dog eating contest . . . Well, you reached a pretty low echelon of athletics.
Vocabulary lists containing echelon
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Failing that, the air-defense centers coordinate responses up the echelon both geographically and kinetically, like a zone defense in football.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 11, 2026
A laboured points victory over Regis Prograis in his last outing did little to convince purists he belongs at the sport's highest echelon.
From BBC ● Sep. 11, 2026
When SpaceX went public, it did so at a more than $1.7 trillion valuation, putting it firmly in the upper echelon of companies by market capitalization.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 18, 2026
The tax records show the couple has earned between $1.4 million and $3.5 million per year, putting them in the upper echelon of Americans when it comes to annual income.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 31, 2026
He does not realize the attack is en echelon for a while; he thinks perhaps it is a diversion, and he will be hit on another flank.
From "The Killer Angels: The Classic Novel of the Civil War" by Michael Shaara
Even within the highest echelons of wealth concentration, these two groups are on different trajectories.
From Salon ● Oct. 25, 2026
He is also the face of a growing media empire, which is what a comedian must become to hold sway in the upper echelons of new media fame.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 8, 2026
For months, the holdings of his hedge fund Situational Awareness shot up in value, as did Aschenbrenner’s standing in the upper echelons of San Francisco’s elite.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 31, 2026
They could not quite make the biggest leap of all, but they were firmly ensconced in the upper echelons.
From BBC ● Jun. 10, 2026
She travels in the upper echelons of Fenway High, and getting a hi from up there is good enough.
From "Saints and Misfits" by S.K. Ali
"Together with our partners we’re working on an integrated & echeloned air defense system. We are preparing for winter on the battlefield," he wrote.
From Reuters ● Nov. 16, 2022
General Clark, back in Vienna, had a military metaphor that summed up the conference: "Russia gave us impossible demands, echeloned in depth."
From Time Magazine Archive
Details such as the echeloned curls, sinuous eyebrows, and almond-shaped eyes of the Girl with a Late Period Bob were painstakingly sculpted.
From Time Magazine Archive
G. M. Bullock, had reached the donga immediately in rear of Long's guns, the rest of that battalion being echeloned in the open, further back as a support.
From History of the War in South Africa 1899-1902 v. 1 (of 4) Compiled by Direction of His Majesty's Government by Great Britain. War Office
Reinforcements as they arrived at Durban had been pushed rapidly up by rail north of Maritzburg, and the British troops were now echeloned along the railway up to Estcourt.
From History of the War in South Africa 1899-1902 v. 1 (of 4) Compiled by Direction of His Majesty's Government by Great Britain. War Office
The echeloning of the specialists in front is also the most favorable formation to progress by rushes in a terrain cut up by shell holes.
From Military Instructors Manual by Oliver Schoonmaker
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