escala

See also: escalá and escală

Catalan

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Central, Balearic) [əsˈka.lə]
• IPA^(key): (Valencia) [esˈka.la]

• Audio (Catalonia):

  (file)

Etymology 1

Inherited from Latin scāla.

Noun

escala f (plural escales)

1. stairs
2. ladder
3. (poker) straight
4. scale, measure

Derived terms

• escala de color
• escala reial
• escalar
• escalat

 

Etymology 2

Probably borrowed from Italian scala, in this sense taken from Byzantine Greek σκάλα (skála), itself from Latin scala.

Noun

escala f (plural escales)

1. (nautical, aeronautics) stopover

Etymology 3

Verb

escala

1. inflection of escalar:
   1. third-person singular present indicative
   2. second-person singular imperative

Further reading

• “escala” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.
• “escala”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2024
• “escala” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
• “escala” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.

Galician

Etymology

Learned borrowing from Latin scāla. Cognate of escada (“ladder, stairs”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /esˈkala/ [es̺ˈkɑ.lɐ]
• Rhymes: -ala
• Hyphenation: es‧ca‧la

Noun

escala f (plural escalas)

1. scale, measure

Portuguese

Pronunciation

 

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /isˈka.lɐ/, /esˈka.lɐ/

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /isˈka.lɐ/, /esˈka.lɐ/
  • (Rio de Janeiro) IPA^(key): /iʃˈka.lɐ/, /eʃˈka.lɐ/
  • (Southern Brazil) IPA^(key): /esˈka.la/

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /(i)ʃˈka.lɐ/

• Rhymes: -alɐ
• Hyphenation: es‧ca‧la

Etymology 1

Learned borrowing from Latin scāla. Cognate of escada (“ladder, stairs”).

Noun

escala f (plural escalas)

1. scale, measure

Etymology 2

Probably borrowed from Italian scala, in this sense taken from Byzantine Greek σκάλα (skála), itself from Latin scala.

Noun

escala f (plural escalas)

1. stopover

Etymology 3

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Verb

escala

1. inflection of escalar:
   1. third-person singular present indicative
   2. second-person singular imperative

Spanish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /esˈkala/ [esˈka.la]

• Audio (Venezuela):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ala
• Syllabification: es‧ca‧la

Etymology 1

Inherited from Latin scāla. Cognates include French échelle.

Noun

escala f (plural escalas)

1. ladder (a frame, usually portable, of wood, metal, or rope, used for ascent and descent)

   Synonym: escalera de mano

2. scale (an ordered, usually numerical sequence used for measurement, means of assigning a magnitude)
3. (music) scale (a series of notes spanning an octave)
4. ladder, hierarchy (of a company, of the military)

   Synonym: escalafón

5. scale (the ratio of depicted distance to actual distance)
6. scale (size; scope)

   a gran escala ― on a broad scale

Derived terms

• a escala vista
• economía de escala
• escala de Beaufort
• escala de gato
• escala de reserva
• escala de temperaturas
• escala de viento
• escala del modo
• escalafón
• escalar
• escalón
• tren de escala

 

Related terms

• escalera

 

Etymology 2

Borrowed from Italian scala, in this sense taken from Byzantine Greek σκάλα (skála), itself from Latin scala.

Noun

escala f (plural escalas)

1. stopover, layover (a short interruption in a journey or the place visited during such an interruption)

   hacer escala en ― stop over in; do/have a stopover in

   • 2023 December 4, Clara Blanchar, Dani Cordero, “Barcelona supera este año los tres millones de cruceristas, y aumentan solo los que hacen escala”, in El País‎^[1]:

     Mirando las cifras con detalle, el gran aumento de cruceristas se ha producido en los que solo hacen escala en la ciudad: ya son 1,4 millones, un 18,8% más que en 2019.

     Looking at the numbers in detail, the great increase in cruise passengers has taken place due to those who are only stopping over in the city: they have already reached 1.4 million, 18.8% more than in 2019.

Etymology 3

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Verb

escala

1. inflection of escalar:
   1. third-person singular present indicative
   2. second-person singular imperative

Further reading

• “escala”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 2024 December 10