# escalator
## English
### Etymology

From the former trademark Escalator, created by American inventor Charles Seeberger in 1900, from Latin e (“from, out of”) + scala (“ladder”) + -tor, which forms nouns of agency. See the appendix. Broader usage may be influenced by escalate, and is equivalent to escalate +‎ -or. For an alternative etymology, see the Online Etymology Dictionary.

### Pronunciation

* (UK) IPA: /ˈɛs.kə.leɪ.tə/
* Audio (Southern England):(file)
* (US) enPR: esʹkə-lā-tər, IPA: /ˈɛs.kə.leɪ.tɚ/
* Hyphenation: es‧ca‧la‧tor
* Rhymes: -eɪtə(ɹ)

### Noun

escalator (plural escalators)
* Anything that escalates.
** 2006, Dudley D. Cahn, Ruth Anna Abigail, Managing Conflict Through Communication, page xiv:Fourth, communication researchers study the role of stress and negative attitudes as key contributors to conflict, anger as an escalator of conflict, and emotional residues as barriers to reconciliation.
* A motor-driven mechanical device consisting of a continuous loop of steps that automatically conveys people from one floor to another.
    Synonym: moving staircase (UK)
    There is a plastic molly-guard covering the escalator's shutdown button to prevent little kids from pushing it and stopping the escalator.
** 2012, Andrew Martin, Underground Overground: A passenger's history of the Tube, Profile Books, →ISBN, page xiv-xv, Preface:I found the Tube trains morbidly fascinating, I had a simpler enthusiasm for the escalators. Everyone likes going on escalators as far as I know. It feels like a free ride, and the longer they are, the better. The only escalator in York was at Marks & Spencer's, and people would hesitate for ages before getting on, apparently waiting for the right stair to come rolling along, whereas Londoners would step on while reading a newspaper.
** 2021 June 30, Tim Dunn, “How we made... Secrets of the London Underground”, in RAIL, number 934, page 51:Episode Guide: [...] Episode 1 (July 13): Exploration of both ends of the abandoned branch between Holborn and Aldwych, including an interview with the driver of the last train. And a trip to Holloway Road to find out about the Tube's only spiral escalator. [This escalator never entered service]
* An upward or progressive course.
** 2009 February 19, Froma Harrop, “Housing aid may revive American dream for Latinos”, in Houston Chronicle:Lots of people fell for the pitch that real estate was an up-only escalator into the American Dream
* An escalator clause.
    They agreed to a cost-of-living escalator.

#### Derived terms

* downalator
* escalator barrel
* escalator clause
* escalator school
* escalefter

#### Related terms

* escalate

#### Translations
### Verb

escalator (third-person singular simple present escalators, present participle escalatoring, simple past and past participle escalatored)
* (intransitive, informal) To move by escalator.
    Synonym: (rare) escalate
    We escalatored to the second floor.

### See also

* movator
* moving pavement, moving sidewalk
* moving ramp
* moving walkway
* stairway
* step
* travelator

### References

* ↑ Douglas Harper (2001–2025) “escalator”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.

### Further reading

* escalator on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
* Category:escalators on Wikimedia Commons.Wikimedia Commons

### Anagrams

* acetarsol, crotalase

## French
### Etymology

Borrowed from English. Genericized trademark.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /ɛs.ka.la.tɔʁ/

### Noun

escalator m (plural escalators)
* escalator
    Synonyms: escalier roulant, escalier mécanique

## Romanian
### Etymology

Borrowed from French escalator.

### Noun

escalator n (plural escalatoare)
* escalator