en echelon

Meanings

adjectiveen echelon (not comparable)

not comparableIn echelon
Fragment of pot-net (?), blue ring-beads only, set in pairs or as above in threes, threaded en echelon. Strung as above.
1923, George Andrew Reisner, Excavations at Kerma, volume 4, page 105
In echelon:
1. not comparablegovernmentStaggered; offset so that the wing turret on one side is mounted further forwards than the one on the opposite side.
2. not comparablegeographyConsisting of a series of diagonal lines, each somewhat offset from its neighbors, approximately parallel, but at an angle to a particular direction.
  1 more example
  This fault zone trends north-south, consists of en echelon horsts and grabens striking about 30° cast of the zone's trend, and was active from the Jurassic through the Eocene. The presence of the grabens, their orientation and en echelon arrangement, and the age of movement are all consistent with divergent strike-slip movement.
  1985, Fossil Energy Update, page 74

From French en échelon, literally in echelon.

Cite this entry

APA

en echelon. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/en%20echelon

MLA

“en echelon.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/en%20echelon. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “en echelon,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/en%20echelon.