scales

S1C3A1L1E1S1
/skeɪlz/

noun

A device for measuring weight.

“The butcher put the sausages on the scales.”

Similar
CommonScrabble 8

Meanings

scales1

noun
  1. pluralplural of scale
nounscales pl (plural only)
  1. pluralplural onlyA device for measuring weight.

    The butcher put the sausages on the scales.

    Synonyms: scale

verb
  1. indicativepresentsingularthird personthird-person singular simple present indicative of scale

Scales2

proper noun
  1. A surname.
    1 more example

    Both Bobba and Coristine are listed in internal OPM records reviewed by WIRED as “experts” at OPM, reporting directly to Amanda Scales, its new chief of staff. Scales previously worked on talent for xAI, Musk’s artificial intelligence company, and as part of Uber’s talent acquisition team, per LinkedIn.

    2025 February 2, Vittoria Elliott, “The Young, Inexperienced Engineers Aiding Elon Musk’s Government Takeover”, in WIRED, archived from the original on 02 Feb 2025
  2. A small village in Aldingham parish, Westmorland and Furness district, Cumbria, England, previously in South Lakeland district (OS grid ref SD2772).
  3. A hamlet in Kirkoswald parish, Westmorland and Furness district, Cumbria, previously in Eden district (OS grid ref NY5743).
  4. A hamlet in Threlkeld parish, Westmorland and Furness, Cumbria, previously in Eden district (OS grid ref NY3426).

Scales3

proper nounthe Scales
  1. astrologyThe constellation and zodiacal sign Libra.

    The scales should be uneven, the northern exalted, the southern depressed.

    1862, [Frances Rolleston], Mazzaroth, or, The Constellations, London: Rivingtons, page 55
    4 more examples

    The Ram, the Bull, the heavenly Twins, And next the Crab, the Lion shines, The Virgin and the Scales; The Scorpion, Archer, and Sea-Goat, The Man that carries the Water-pot, And Fish with glittering scales.

    1893, E. W. Bullinger, Witness of the Stars, London: The author, page 16

    Strange, too, how the old pagan names for the constellations—the Ram, the Bull, the Twins (Castor and Pollux), the Crab, the Lion, the Virgin, the Scales, the Scorpion, the Archer, the Horned Goat, the Water-carrier, and the Fishes, have persisted all these thousands of years in spite of attempts made by philosophers of the Christian and other faiths to give them more prosaic or more religious names.

    1926 November 21, “How old is the zodiac?”, in The Woodend Star, Victoria, page 4, column 6

    For they are so easy to recall if you do it in associated pairs—like the Maid and the Twins, the Bull and the Rain, the Fishes and the Scales.

    1947 November 14, Mountain District Free Press and Frentree Gully News, Tecoma, Vic., page 8, column 2

    But the original figure was not forgotten: MUL.APIN still listed Libra as ‘The Scales, the horn of the Scorpion’[.]

    1998, John H. Roger, “Origins of the ancient constellations: I. The Mesopotamian traditions”, in Journal of the British Astronomy Association, volume 108, number 1, page 28, column 1

Synonyms & antonyms

nounA device for measuring weight.

Similar

Origin

Scales · proper noun

  1. Old Norseskáli“shed, hut”
  2. EnglishScales

From Old Norse skáli (“shed, hut”). Doublet of Scholes.

Full word history & related roots →

Scales · proper noun

Plural of scale.

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Ancient Greek τρυτάνη
  • τρυτάνη (trutánē)device for weighing things
Arabic مِيزَان
  • مِيزَان (mīzān)device for weighing things
Bengali দাঁড়িপাল্লা, তুলা
  • দাঁড়িপাল্লা (dãṛipalla)device for weighing things
  • তুলা (tula)device for weighing things
  • তরাজূ (toraju)device for weighing things
  • মীজান (mijan)device for weighing things
Bulgarian тегли́лка, везна́
  • тегли́лка (teglílka)device for weighing things
  • везна́ (vezná)device for weighing things
  • везни́ (vezní)device for weighing things
Catalan balança, bàscula
  • balançadevice for weighing things
  • bàsculadevice for weighing things
Chinese Cantonese 磅, 天平
  • 磅device for weighing things
  • 天平 (tin¹ ping⁴)device for weighing things
Chinese Mandarin 天平, 磅秤
  • 天平 (tiānpíng)device for weighing things
  • 磅秤 (bàngchèng)device for weighing things
  • 秤 (chèng)device for weighing things
  • 磅 (bàng)device for weighing things
Czech váhy
  • váhydevice for weighing things
Danish vægt
  • vægtdevice for weighing things
Dutch weegschaal
  • weegschaaldevice for weighing things
Esperanto pesilo
  • pesilodevice for weighing things
Estonian kaal, vaag
  • kaaldevice for weighing things
  • vaagdevice for weighing things
Finnish vaaka, varsivaaka
  • vaakadevice for weighing things
  • varsivaakadevice for weighing things
French balance
  • balancedevice for weighing things
German Waage
  • Waagedevice for weighing things
Greek ζυγαριά
  • ζυγαριά (zygariá)device for weighing things
Hebrew מֹאזְנַיִם, מאזניים
  • מֹאזְנַיִםdevice for weighing things
  • מאזניים (moznáim)device for weighing things
Hindi तराज़ू, तुला
  • तराज़ू (tarāzū)device for weighing things
  • तुला (tulā)device for weighing things
  • मीज़ान (mīzān)device for weighing things
Hungarian mérleg
  • mérlegdevice for weighing things
Icelandic vog
  • vogdevice for weighing things
Indonesian timbangan
  • timbangandevice for weighing things
Irish scálaí
  • scálaídevice for weighing things
Italian bilancia
  • bilanciadevice for weighing things
Japanese 秤, 天秤
  • 秤 (hakari)device for weighing things
  • 天秤 (tenbin)device for weighing things
Korean 저울, 천칭
  • 저울 (jeoul)device for weighing things
  • 천칭 (cheonching)device for weighing things
Latin lībra, trutina
  • lībradevice for weighing things
  • trutinadevice for weighing things
  • statēradevice for weighing things
Latvian svari
  • svaridevice for weighing things
Lithuanian svarstyklės
  • svarstyklėsdevice for weighing things
Malay mizan, neraca
  • mizandevice for weighing things
  • neracadevice for weighing things
  • terajudevice for weighing things
  • dacingdevice for weighing things
Māori inetaumaha
  • inetaumahadevice for weighing things
Norwegian Bokmål vekt
  • vektdevice for weighing things
Polish waga
  • wagadevice for weighing things
Portuguese balança
  • balançadevice for weighing things
Romanian cântar, balanță
  • cântardevice for weighing things
  • balanțădevice for weighing things
  • cumpănădevice for weighing things
Russian весы́
  • весы́ (vesý)device for weighing things
Scottish Gaelic cothrom, meidh
  • cothromdevice for weighing things
  • meidhdevice for weighing things
Slovak váhy
  • váhydevice for weighing things
Spanish báscula, balanza
  • básculadevice for weighing things
  • balanzadevice for weighing things
  • pesodevice for weighing things
  • romanadevice for weighing things
  • estateradevice for weighing things
Swahili mizani
  • mizanidevice for weighing things
Swedish balansvåg, våg
  • balansvågdevice for weighing things
  • vågdevice for weighing things
  • vågskåldevice for weighing things
Tagalog talaro
  • talarodevice for weighing things
Tamil தராசு
  • தராசு (tarācu)device for weighing things
Thai ตาชั่ง, ตราชู
  • ตาชั่ง (dtaa-châng)device for weighing things
  • ตราชู (dtraa-chuu)device for weighing things
Turkish terazi, kantar
  • terazidevice for weighing things
  • kantardevice for weighing things
  • mizandevice for weighing things
Ukrainian ва́ги, вага́
  • ва́ги (váhy)device for weighing things
  • вага́ (vahá)device for weighing things
Urdu تَرازُو, تُلا
  • تَرازُو (tarāzū)device for weighing things
  • تُلا (tulā)device for weighing things
  • مِیزان (mīzān)device for weighing things
  • پَیمانَہ (paimāna)device for weighing things
Vietnamese cân
  • cândevice for weighing things
Welsh clorian, tafol
  • cloriandevice for weighing things
  • tafoldevice for weighing things
Yiddish וואָג
  • וואָג (vog)device for weighing things

Rhymes & wordplay

Rhymes with scales

All rhymes →

Anagrams

Cite this entry
APA

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

MLA

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

Chicago

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

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