echelon
Of a matrix: having undergone Gaussian elimination with the result that the leading…Of a matrix: having undergone Gaussian elimination with the result that the leading coefficient or pivot (that is, the first nonzero number from the left) of a nonzero row is to the right of the pivot of the row above it, giving rise to a stepped appearance in the matrix.
Recorded: Commander Keane, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
» Only the upper echelon has access to the best trainers.
AlanF_US · Tatoeba · CC BY 2.0 FRMeaning
1 senses(not comparable)Of a matrix: having undergone Gaussian elimination with the result that the leading coefficient or pivot (that is, the first nonzero number from the left) of a nonzero row is to the right of the pivot of the row above it, giving rise to a stepped appearance in the matrix.
Examples
4 sentencesOnly the upper echelon has access to the best trainers.
His artisan bread is of a higher echelon than that found in the grocery stores.
The Queen’s Counsel is the highest echelon of the British Bar.
From plebeian origins, Tom Jackson has quickly risen to the upper echelon of society.
Origin
Borrowed from French échelon (“rung; echelon”), from échelle (“ladder”) + -on (diminutiveBorrowed 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”).
Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · source
See also
neighbours in the dictionaryDictionary text adapted from Wiktionary (Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0) and Open English WordNet / Princeton WordNet (CC BY 4.0, WordNet License); shared under CC BY-SA 4.0. Example sentences and recordings are credited where they appear.