echelon
ech·e·lon/ˈɛʃ.ə.lɒn/noun, verb, adjective
echelon is spelled E-C-H-E-L-O-N: 7 letters and 3 syllables (ech·e·lon). It appears about once in every 1 million words in written English, the 31,549th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, echelon means “A level or rank in an organization, profession, or society” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of echelon is echelons or échelons.
How many letters and syllables are in echelon?
| Letters | 7: E-C-H-E-L-O-N |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 3: ech·e·lon |
| In writing | about once in every 1 million words; the 31,549th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Same letters |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is echelon?
Echelon appears about once in every 1 million words in written English, the 31,549th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce echelon?
- UK /ˈɛʃ.ə.lɒn/
- /ˈeɪ-/
- /ˈɛk.ə.lɒn/
Echelon has 3 syllables, split ech·e·lon in writing.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-au-echelon.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with echelon?
No other word on PlainSpell ends in the same sounds as echelon (/ɛʃəlɒn/).
Spelled with the same letters in another order: chelone.
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of echelon
- echelons plural, present, singular, he/she/it
- échelon
- echeloning participle, present
- echeloned participle, past
- échelons plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does echelon mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
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
- 1
To form troops into an echelon.
adjective
- 1
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.
noun
- 1
Alternative form of echelon.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Echelon in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | échelon , échelonner |
| German | Stufe, Rang, Skala , Echelon |
| Portuguese | escalão , escalonar |
| Spanish | escalón, esfera, cuadro, peldaño, estamento , abanico |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does echelon come from?
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”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).