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aeroplane

SayAIR-uh-playn/ˈɛə.ɹə.pleɪn/US/ˈɛɹ.ə.pleɪ̯n/[ˈɛː.ɹ(ə).plɛɪ̯n]

Pluralaeroplanes

US spellingairplane

5 meanings of aeroplane

Practice

  1. 1
    aircraftnouncountable
    An engine-driven flying machine, heavier than the air it moves through, that is held up by fixed wings.

    The aeroplane circled above Heathrow for twenty minutes before it was cleared to land.

    Enemy aeroplanes bombed the docks again and again throughout the winter of 1940.

    UsageIn everyday speech usually shortened to plane: you travel by plane and get on or off it.

    Similarplane, aircraft

    Note

    The name British and Commonwealth English use, where American English writes airplane. It came from French aéroplane, which joins Greek aēr, "air", to a second part read either as Latin for "level" or as Greek for "wandering", and the French word first appeared in Joseph Pline's 1855 patent.

  2. 2
    wing surfacenounobsolete
    An aerofoil: a surface, such as a wing, shaped to act on the air flowing past it.

    Similaraerofoil

    Note

    An early engineering meaning, now obsolete. Here the word names one surface that meets the air rather than a whole machine, so a single flying machine could carry several aeroplanes. Engineers now call such a surface an aerofoil (airfoil in American English), and the word has been left to the aircraft itself.

    Checked 5 Nov 2026 · 2 facts

    • Aeroplane had an early engineering sense meaning an aerodynamic surface, now obsolete. en.wiktionary.org
    • The word could name individual supporting surfaces, allowing one flying machine to carry several aeroplanes. invention.psychology.msstate.edu

Less common meanings

  1. 3
    verbrare
    To travel by air as a pilot or passenger in an aeroplane.
  2. 4
    verbrare
    To carry people or goods from one place to another by aeroplane.
    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
  3. 5
    noun
    Any of several nymphalid butterflies, belonging to more than one genus, that fly with a slow, gliding motion; also known as a plane.

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Origin

Borrowed from French aéroplane, from Ancient Greek aḗr ("air") and either Latin planus ("level") or Ancient Greek plános ("wandering"). It was first used by Joseph Pline in an 1855 patent.

Checked 5 Nov 2026 · 3 facts

  • English aeroplane was borrowed from French aéroplane. en.wiktionary.org
  • Greek aeróplanos means wandering in air and consists of aḗr, air, and plános, wandering. en.wiktionary.org
  • Joseph Pline first used the French word in an 1855 patent. en.wiktionary.org