scalability
/ˌskeɪ.ləˈbɪl.ə.ti/ IELTSAcademic
noun
The ability of a system, business, or plan to grow and handle more work without breaking down. It also means how easily something can be made bigger or used by more people.
- We need better scalability for peak traffic.
- The app's scalability is still a problem.
- Scalability matters when the company grows fast.
Adinary Nuance
Scalability is about growth capacity, not just size. It is close to efficiency and capacity, but it focuses on whether something can expand smoothly when demand increases. In business and technology, people use it for systems, teams, and products.
In other languages
- Vietnamese
- Khả năng mở rộng
- Spanish
- Escalabilidad
- Chinese
- 可扩展性
- Japanese
- 拡張性
- Korean
- 확장성
Etymology
Scalability comes from scalable, which entered English in the mid-20th century from scale. Scale comes from Latin scala, meaning 'ladder' or 'steps'.
Common phrases
scalability issuesscalability testhigh scalabilityscalability planning
Synonyms
Related words
Frequently asked questions
- Is scalability used more in business or technology?
- It is used in both. In technology, it often means a system can handle more users. In business, it means a company can grow easily.
- What is the difference between scalability and capacity?
- Capacity is how much something can handle now. Scalability is how well it can handle more later.
- Is scalability a formal word?
- Yes. It is common in business, IT, and academic writing.
- Can I use scalability in everyday English?
- You can, but it sounds professional. People use it most in work, study, and tech discussions.