Escalation

How to spell escalation

10 letters · 4 syllables

How to pronounce escalation

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does escalation mean?

1. nounA rapid increase or intensification in the scale, severity, or seriousness of something.

Escalation in a sentence

• The sudden escalation in costs forced the team to revise the budget.

• Managers monitor every complaint to prevent a needless escalation of the dispute.

Where does escalation come from?

Language of origin: Latin

The word traces back to the Latin scala, meaning 'ladder' or 'flight of stairs'. In the early twentieth century an American company coined 'escalator' as a trade name for the moving staircase, building it on that same Latin root and the model of 'elevator'. From 'escalator' English then formed the verb 'escalate', first meaning simply to climb or ride up, and by the mid twentieth century it had taken on the figurative sense of rising rapidly in intensity. 'Escalation' is the noun built on that verb, and it became especially common during the Cold War to describe a conflict that steadily intensifies. The spelling keeps the single 'l' of 'escalate' and the soft 'c' sounded as 's', which are the points where writers most often hesitate.

How the word is built

• escal- (from escalator/escalate, ultimately Latin scala 'ladder, stairs')
• -ation (noun suffix meaning act or process)