escalator

Meaning

Noun

• Anything that escalates.
• A motor-driven mechanical device consisting of a continuous loop of steps that automatically conveys people from one floor to another.
• An upward or progressive course.
• An escalator clause.

Origin

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