Escale

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A scheduled stop or brief landing made by a ship or aircraft during a journey for refueling or passenger transfer; a pause in travel within a longer route; a port or station where such a temporary halt occurs
2. An intermediate break in a voyage for the purpose of replenishment or embarking and disembarking travelers; a layover point in transportation routes; a designated stopover location on a maritime or aeronautical itinerary
3. A planned interruption in transit made by vessels or airplanes to allow for fuel, supplies, or passenger exchange; a midway station in a trip; a place where travelers temporarily cease progression before continuing onward

Etymology: "Escale" is a French word whose original sense was more nautical than aeronautical: it comes from Provençal "escala," meaning a ladder or a landing stage, and by extension a port where ships put in. That Provençal form descends from Latin "scala," "ladder" or "stairway," the same root that gave English "scale" in the sense of a climbing ladder. A ship calling at a harbour was, in effect, stepping ashore on a stair built into the coast, so the image of a stepping-off point carried over to the place itself. The word entered English in the nineteenth century from French, where it had long been used for ports of call in Mediterranean and Levantine trade. Its modern extension to aircraft refuelling and passenger transfer came with aviation in the twentieth century, when long-distance flights needed intermediate stops and the old maritime term was ready to hand. English speakers still use it mainly in that technical travel sense, rather than for ordinary errands or pauses.

Synonyms: stopover, layover, port call, stop, break