Etages

Etages is the plural of the French noun étage, meaning a floor or level of a building. In French architecture and real estate, an étage is a horizontal division of a building, typically referred to as the first floor (premier étage) or upper floors (étages supérieurs). The term appears in architectural plans, leases, and descriptions of building layouts; in English contexts, etage is used mainly in francophone or specialized usage.

Beyond architecture, etage also denotes a stage or level in a sequence. In aerospace, the term étages denotes the stages of a rocket or launch vehicle—each stage provides propulsion and is jettisoned when its fuel is spent.

In geology and paleontology, étages are stratigraphic or temporal units indicating a particular interval of time or rock layer; in English this is typically called a stage or age, with the French term used in some contexts.

In everyday language, the plural étages is rarely used in English, where floor, level, or stage are the common equivalents. The word survives primarily in French-influenced contexts, or in technical fields where the French terminology has been retained.