echelon

[esh-uh-lon]

noun

1. a level of command, authority, or rank.

   After years of service, she is now in the upper echelon of city officials.

   Synonyms: standing, class, position, rung, tier, row, office, grade, authority, hierarchy, rank, place

2. a level of worthiness, achievement, or reputation.

   studying hard to get into one of the top echelon colleges.

   Synonyms: tier, position, degree

3. 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.

4. Military.,  one of the groups of a formation so arranged.

5. Archaic.,  any structure or group of structures arranged in a steplike form.

6. 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)

1. to form in an echelon.

echelon

/ ˈɛʃəˌlɒn /

noun

1. a level of command, responsibility, etc (esp in the phrase the upper echelons )

2. military

   1. a formation in which units follow one another but are offset sufficiently to allow each unit a line of fire ahead

   2. a group formed in this way

3. 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

1. to assemble in echelon

Other Word Forms

• echelonment noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of echelon¹

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; scale ³ )

Word History and Origins

Origin of echelon¹

C18: from French échelon, literally: rung of a ladder, from Old French eschiele ladder, from Latin scāla; see _scale ³

Example Sentences

Mamdani said Wednesday that he admired Tisch for cracking down on corruption in the upper echelons of the police department, lowering crime and “standing up for New Yorkers in the face of authoritarianism.”

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This season, the women attempt to launch themselves into a higher echelon in the entertainment industry.

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“Flesh,” Szalay’s sixth novel, follows István, a socially isolated Hungarian teen who through circumstances beyond his control is thrust into London’s upper echelon.

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“The military isn’t waiting for the political echelon to announce that the war is over. It has no choice.”

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See where you fit in — and how much it takes to reach the upper echelons.

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