escalón
/eskaˈlon/ · B2 · noun · m
measure
🪜 es-ca-LÓN: sounds like escalator + lón, a step up like a ladder rung
Escalón shares its root with Latin scala (ladder, stairs), as in escalator and escalate. Each escalón is one rung or step, and by extension one rank or stage in a hierarchy, so you climb them one at a time.