a mathematical instrument, consisting of several lines drawn on wood, brass, or silver, and variously divided, according to the purposes it is intended to serve; whence it acquires various denominations, as the plain scale, diagonal scale, plotting scale, and the like.

in Music, see Music. The name is derived from scola, a ladder, or flight of stairs, and has reference to the disposition of the notes that ascend or descend upon the written or printed musical stave.

in Architecture and Geography, a line divided into equal parts, and placed at the bottom of a map or draught, to serve as a common measure to all the parts of the building, or all the distances and places of the map.