echelon
noun/ˈeʃəlɒn/
/ˈeʃəlɑːn/
- [usually plural] a rank or position of authority in an organization or a society
- the lower/upper/top/higher echelons of the Civil Service
Extra Examples- Corruption was increasingly a problem within the upper echelons.
- Even the lower echelons of the aristocracy usually owned some land.
- Power was concentrated in the higher echelons of the party.
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- an arrangement of soldiers, planes, etc. in which each one is behind and to the side of the one in front
Word Originlate 18th cent. (in sense (2)): from French échelon, from échelle ‘ladder’, from Latin scala.
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echelon