echelon

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   A line of riders seeking maximum drafting in a crosswind, resulting in a diagonal line across the road.

   In an echelon, in which several cyclists are sitting in on one another, each rider takes his turn of about 200 meters at the front before dropping to the rear.

2. 2
   verb

   To form troops into an echelon.

   July 1, Montcalm made a movement in advance, echeloning his troops from Fort Carillon to the foot of Lake George, to curb the enemy, and obstruct their landing.

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”).

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