scala

S1C3A1L1A1
/ˈskɑlɑ//ˈskɑːlə/

noun

Ladder; sequence.

Less commonScrabble 7

Meanings

scala1

nounscala (plural scalas or scalae)

plural scalas · plural scalae

  1. anatomyLadder-like structure in the cochlea of a mammal's ear.
  2. A machine formerly used for reducing dislocations of the humerus.

Scala2

proper nounScala (plural Scalas)

plural Scalas

  1. A surname from Italian.

Scala3

proper noun
  1. computer languagesA statically-typed multi-paradigm programming language designed to run on the JVM.

    Scala started life in 2001 as a research project at EPFL in Switzerland. It was released publicly in 2004 after an internal release in 2003.

    2017, Toby Weston, Scala for Java Developers: A Practical Primer, Apress, →ISBN, page 5

Origin

scala · noun

  1. Latinscāla“ladder”
  2. Englishscala

Borrowed from Latin scāla (“ladder”). Doublet of scale.

Full word history & related roots →

Scala · proper noun

  1. SlovakSkala
  2. CzechSkála
  3. PolishSkała
  4. EnglishScala

* As an Italian surname, from Scala. * As a Slavic and Jewish surname, from Polish Skała, Czech Skála, Carpathian Rusyn and Slovak Skala.

Full word history & related roots →

Rhymes & wordplay

Anagrams

Cite this entry
APA

scala. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/scala

MLA

“scala.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/scala. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “scala,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/scala.

Source: scala on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.