en echelon

English

A diagram of the layout of the Rivadavia-class battleships; the amidships turrets are mounted en echelon.

Etymology

From French en échelon, literally in echelon.

Adjective

en echelon (not comparable)

1. In echelon:
   1. (nautical, military, of wing-mounted gun turrets on a warship) Staggered; offset so that the wing turret on one side is mounted further forwards than the one on the opposite side.
   2. (geology) Consisting of a series of diagonal lines, each somewhat offset from its neighbors, approximately parallel, but at an angle to a particular direction.
      • 1985, Fossil Energy Update, page 74:

        This fault zone trends north-south, consists of en echelon horsts and grabens striking about 30° cast of the zone's trend, and was active from the Jurassic through the Eocene. The presence of the grabens, their orientation and en echelon arrangement, and the age of movement are all consistent with divergent strike-slip movement.