Etymograph

English

echelle

Echelle comes from French échelle ‘ladder’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *skend- ‘to jump up, ascend’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*skend-1‘to jump up, ascend’reconstructed
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEscāla2‘ladder’
  3. Old Frenchc. 842–1400eschale2
  4. Frenchc. 1600–presentéchelle3‘ladder’
  5. Englishtodayechelle3

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Latin scala, which cites Martirosyan
  2. 2 Wiktionary, French échelle
  3. 3 Wiktionary, English echelle

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*skend-Wiktionary, Latin scala, which cites Martirosyan‘to jump up, ascend’reconstructed
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEscālaWiktionary, French échelle‘ladder’
  3. Old Frenchc. 842–1400eschaleWiktionary, French échelle
  4. Frenchc. 1600–presentéchelleWiktionary, English echelle‘ladder’
  5. EnglishtodayechelleWiktionary, English echelle

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *skend- ‘to jump up, ascend’

scan, descend, ascension, slander, scalar, ascendant, skein, 12 more

through Latin scāla ‘ladder’

scale, escalator, scala, esca, 4 more

Today it means

noun An echelle grating.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “echelle”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Latin scala, French échelle. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *skend- / echelle

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