What does echelon mean?
Word: Echelon
Part of Speech: Noun
Meaning: Echelon means a level of power or importance in a large organisation or in society.
Synonyms: level
How do you spell echelon?
Syllables: ech - e - lon
Tricky part: It begins with a sh sound, so pupils write esh. The letters are ch, because the word came from French, and the same spelling of that sound appears in machine.
Watch out for: eshelon, esshelon
Memory tip: French words hide their sh sound inside ch. Picture a machine climbing a ladder, one level at a time.
Echelon in a sentence
Example 1: Few women reached the top echelons of the company in those days.
Example 2: Her essay was read in the higher echelons of the education department.
Example 3: He started as a trainee and climbed through every echelon of the bank.
Fun Fact
Its French parent is the word for one rung of a ladder, which is why writers picture an organisation as something you climb.
Practise the CREST Way
Word Cookie
Choose the letters that complete the word:
ech_l_n
a) i, o
b) e, a
c) e, o
d) a, o
Show answer
c) e, o. Both vowels are faint, so learn them by sight: the end is spelt like melon.
Mingle-Mangle
The jumbled letters in the sentence hide a word. Choose the word:
She rose to the top nhcoele of the civil service before she turned fifty.
a) emblem
b) eclipse
c) element
d) echelon
Show answer
d) echelon. A c, an h and an l have to fit, and one option holds them all.
Word Connection
Choose the word closest in meaning to echelons as used in the sentence:
The new rule was discussed in the upper echelons of the hockey federation.
a) ranks
b) offices
c) meetings
d) teams
Show answer
a) ranks. The upper parts of a body like this are its senior grades of people.
Spell-o-Spell
Only one of these words is misspelt. Choose the meaning of that word:
1. echellon 2. authority 3. hierarchy 4. bureaucracy
a) the officials who run a big organisation
b) a system ordering people from top to bottom
c) one step on a ladder of seniority
d) the power to give orders to others
Show answer
c) one step on a ladder of seniority. It needs only one l.
Multiple Choice Questions
1. A young engineer reaches the highest echelon of her firm. What has changed?
a) she now works only at weekends
b) she has left to study abroad
c) she now helps run the company
d) she has moved to a smaller town
Show answer
c) she now helps run the company
2. Which pair of people sit in different echelons of a school?
a) the principal and a new office clerk
b) two drivers on one bus route
c) two teachers of the same subject
d) two pupils in the same class
Show answer
a) the principal and a new office clerk
