scale
Definition from Wiktionary, the free dictionary
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[edit] English
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[edit] Pronunciation
[edit] Etymology 1
From Latin scāla, usually in plural scālae (“a flight of steps, stairs, staircase, ladder”), for *scadla, from scandere (“to climb”); see scan, ascend, descend, etc.
[edit] Noun
scale (plural scales)
- An ordered numerical sequence used for measurement.
- Please rate your experience on a scale from 1 to 10.
- Size; scope.
- The Holocaust was insanity on an enormous scale.
- There are some who question the scale of our ambitions.
- The ratio of depicted distance to actual distance.
- This map uses a scale of 1:10.
- A line or bar associated with a drawing, used to indicate measurement when the image has been magnified or reduced
- 1992, Rudolf M. Schuster, The Hepaticae and Anthocerotae of North America: East of the Hundredth Meridian, volume V, page ix
- Even though precision can be carried to an extreme, the scales which now are drawn in (and usually connected to an appropriate figure by an arrow) will allow derivation of meaningful measurements.
- 1992, Rudolf M. Schuster, The Hepaticae and Anthocerotae of North America: East of the Hundredth Meridian, volume V, page ix
- A means of assigning a magnitude.
- The magnitude of an earthquake is measured on the open-ended Richter scale.
- (music) A series of notes spanning an octave, tritave, or pseudo-octave, used to make melodies.
[edit] Derived terms
Terms derived from scale (noun)
[edit] Hyponyms
- (music): tonic, supertonic, mediant, subdominant, dominant, submediant, leading note, octave interval
[edit] Translations
ordered numerical sequence
size or scope
ratio of distances
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assigning a magnitude
series of notes
[edit] See also
[edit] Verb
scale (third-person singular simple present scales, present participle scaling, simple past and past participle scaled)
- (transitive) To change the size of something whilst maintaining proportion; especially to change a process in order to produce much larger amounts of the final product.
- We should scale that up by a factor of 10.
- (transitive) To climb to the top of.
- Hilary and Norgay were the first known to have scaled Everest.
- 1918, Edgar Rice Burroughs, The Land That Time Forgot Chapter IX
- At last I came to the great barrier-cliffs; and after three days of mad effort--of maniacal effort--I scaled them. I built crude ladders; I wedged sticks in narrow fissures; I chopped toe-holds and finger-holds with my long knife; but at last I scaled them. Near the summit I came upon a huge cavern.
- (intransitive) (computing) To tolerate significant increases in throughput or other potentially limiting factors.
- That architecture won't scale to real-world environments.
[edit] Related terms
Related terms
[edit] Translations
change size of
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climb
tolerate increases in throughput
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[edit] Etymology 2
From Middle English scale, from Old English scealu (“a scale, husk”), Old High German scala; compare Old French escale (“husk, chip”), French écale, Italian scaglia.
[edit] Noun
scale (plural scales)
- Part of an overlapping arrangement of many small, flat and hard pieces of keratin covering the skin of an animal, particularly a fish or reptile.
- A small piece of pigmented chitin, many of which coat the wings of a butterfly or moth to give them their color.
- A flake of skin of an animal afflicted with dermatitis.
- A pine nut of a pinecone.
- The flaky material sloughed off heated metal.
- Scale mail (as opposed to chain mail).
- Limescale
[edit] Translations
keratin pieces covering the skin of certain animals
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coloured chitin
flake of skin
Flaky material sloughed off heated metal
scale mail
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[edit] Verb
scale (third-person singular simple present scales, present participle scaling, simple past and past participle scaled)
- (transitive) To remove the scales of.
- Please scale that fish for dinner.
- (intransitive) To become scaly; to produce or develop scales.
- The dry weather is making my skin scale.
[edit] Translations
remove the scales of
become scaly
[edit] Etymology 3
From Old Norse skál (“bowl”). Confer Danish skål (“bowl, cup”), Dutch schaal; German Schale; Old High German scāla; Gothic skalja, Old English scealu ("cup", "shell"). Cognate with scale, as in Etymology 2.
[edit] Noun
scale (plural scales)
- A device to measure mass or weight.
- After the long, lazy winter I was afraid to get on the scale.
- Either of the pans, trays, or dishes of a balance or scales.
[edit] Usage notes
The noun is often used in the plural to denote a single device (originally a pair of scales had two pans).
[edit] Translations
device
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dish of a balance
[edit] External links
- scale in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913
- scale in The Century Dictionary, The Century Co., New York, 1911
[edit] Anagrams
[edit] Italian
[edit] Noun
scale f.
- Plural form of scala.
[edit] Anagrams
Categories:
- English terms derived from Latin
- English nouns
- en:Music
- English verbs
- English terms derived from Middle English
- English terms derived from Old English
- English terms derived from Old High German
- English terms derived from Old French
- English terms derived from French
- English terms derived from Italian
- English terms derived from Old Norse
- 1000 English basic words
- English terms with multiple etymologies
- en:Measuring instruments
- Italian plurals
