- [usually plural]
a rank or position of authority in an organization or a society 职权的等级；阶层 the lower/upper/top/higher echelons of the Civil Service 公务员的低层／上层／最高层／高层
Extra ExamplesCorruption was increasingly a problem within the upper echelons. 腐败越来越成为上层的一个问题。 Even the lower echelons of the aristocracy usually owned some land. 即使是下层贵族也通常拥有一些土地。 Power was concentrated in the higher echelons of the party. 权力集中在该党的高层。
an arrangement of soldiers, planes, etc. in which each one is behind and to the side of the one in front （士兵、飞机等的）梯形编队，梯队
Word Originlate 18th cent. (in sense (2)): from French échelon, from échelle ‘ladder’, from Latin scala.