Etymograph

English

scala

Scala comes from Latin scāla ‘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. Englishtodayscala2

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Latin scala, which cites Martirosyan
  2. 2 Wiktionary, English scala

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, English scala‘ladder’
  3. EnglishtodayscalaWiktionary, English scala

Linked words

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

scan, descend, ascension, slander, ascendant, skein, 13 more

through Latin scāla ‘ladder’

scale, echelon, escalator, esca, 4 more

Today it means

noun Ladder; sequence.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “scala”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Latin scala. 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- / scala

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