# aeroplane

Pronunciation: say "AIR-uh-playn" UK /ˈɛə.ɹə.pleɪn/, US /ˈɛɹ.ə.pleɪ̯n/, AUS [ˈɛː.ɹ(ə).plɛɪ̯n]

## Noun

1. An engine-driven flying machine, heavier than the air it moves through, that is held up by fixed wings.
   - Simple: A flying machine with an engine and wings that do not move.
   - _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._

## Noun

2. An aerofoil: a surface, such as a wing, shaped to act on the air flowing past it. *(obsolete)*
   - Simple: A flat or curved surface, like a wing, that is shaped to push against moving air.

## Other meanings

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

## 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.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/aeroplane (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).