Escalatge

Escalatge is a Catalan noun referring to the act or process of escalating: an increase in intensity, extent, or level of something, typically in a stepwise or progressive manner. The term is used across various fields to describe how issues, costs, or responses are raised to higher levels or broader scopes.

Etymology and usage notes: Escalatge is formed from escalar, meaning to climb, with the suffix -atge, which is common in Catalan for actions or results. In practice, escalatge often appears in technical or regional registers alongside related terms such as escalació or escalament.

Contexts and meanings: In economics and finance, escalatge describes price or cost increases over time. In risk management and crisis response, it denotes raising the priority or severity of actions. In project management or information technology, it refers to moving an unresolved issue to a higher authority or tier of support. In politics or security, escalatge can describe a sequence of increasingly coercive or expansive moves.

Examples:

- There was an escalatge de costos as fuel prices rose.

- The issue was escalated to senior management, triggering an escalation path.

- The conflict entered a new escalatge phase, with broader participation and higher stakes.

Note: In standard Catalan, escalació is also used to denote escalation; escalatge is less common and may appear in certain technical or regional varieties.

See also: escalació, escalament, escalada.