avskalning

Avskalning is a Swedish term that can refer to several related ideas, depending on the context. It is built from av- meaning away or off, and skalning, which relates to scaling or stripping. In everyday language, avskalning often means removing an outer layer—from peeling fruit or vegetables to stripping paint or bark from wood.

In industrial and technical contexts, avskalning commonly denotes processes that remove scale, coatings, or surface irregularities to prepare a material for further work. This can include removing mineral deposits, oxide layers, rust, or old paint from metal surfaces in manufacturing, maintenance, or inspection settings, sometimes referred to more specifically as descaling or surface preparation.

In fields such as graphics, computing, or data processing, avskalning may appear as a way to describe reducing size or resolution, though nedskalning (downscaling) is the more routinely used term in Swedish for such operations. The use of avskalning in digital contexts is less standardized and can vary by discipline.

In business and project planning, avskalning can describe a deliberate reduction of scope, resources, or activities—effectively a strategic downscaling of operations or offerings. Here too, terminology can vary, with nedskalning or downscaling also commonly employed.

Etymology and usage notes: the sense of avskalning is highly context-dependent. Some fields use it to denote literal removal of an outer layer, while others use it metaphorically to describe downsizing or simplification. When precision is important, it is common to specify the exact process or target (for example, avskalning av yttre skikt, avskalning av programvara, or nedskalning av bilder).