aeroplane - Wiktionary, the free dictionary (original) (raw)
From Wiktionary, the free dictionary
An aeroplane (Airbus A330)
Borrowed from French aéroplane, from Ancient Greek ἀερόπλανος (aeróplanos, “wandering in air”), from ἀήρ (aḗr, “air”) + πλάνος (plános, “wandering”). First used by Joseph Pline in an 1855 patent.[1];[2]
- (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): [ˈɛə̯.ɹə.pleɪ̯n], dated IPA(key): [ˈeɪ.əɹ-]
- (Standard Southern British) IPA(key): [ˈɛː.ɹə.plɛjn]
- (MLE) IPA(key): [ˈɛː.ɹow.plejn], [ˈɛː.ɹow.pleːn]
- (General Australian) IPA(key): [ˈɛː.ɹ(ə).plɛɪ̯n]
- (US) IPA(key): /ˈɛɹ.ə.pleɪ̯n/
- Hyphenation: ae‧ro‧plane
aeroplane (plural aeroplanes)
- (aviation, Commonwealth) Synonym of airplane. A powered heavier-than-air aircraft with fixed wings.
- 1944 May 20, Russian Rhapsody, spoken by the gremlins from the Kremlin:
Schicklgruber's aeroplanes we smash right to the ground.
- 1944 May 20, Russian Rhapsody, spoken by the gremlins from the Kremlin:
- (Commonwealth) Synonym of airplane. A game played when spoon-feeding children.
- (aeronautics, archaic, obsolete) Synonym of airfoil. An aerodynamic surface.
- Any of various nymphalid butterflies, of various genera, having a slow gliding flight. Also called planes.
Aeroplane was the predominant spelling in the US until the 1920s, and is still used idiolectally among some American speakers.
Canada officially uses aeroplane, but the spelling airplane has become much more common as a result of US influence.
Airplane has also become a usual variant in most other areas, but is considered informal.
hydroaeroplane (dated)
→ Swahili: eropleni
→ Welsh: eroplen
aeroplane (third-person singular simple present aeroplanes, present participle aeroplaning, simple past and past participle aeroplaned)
- (intransitive) To fly in an aeroplane.
- (transitive) To transport by aeroplane.
- 1919, The American Angler, volume 4, page 221:
The rod was discarded, and then, hand over hand, the prize of them all was aeroplaned to the top of the cliff.
- 1919, The American Angler, volume 4, page 221: