Aeroplane
noun, verb ·Common ·High school level
Definitions
- 1 Synonym of airplane. A powered heavier-than-air aircraft with fixed wings. Commonwealth
"Schicklgruber's aeroplanes we smash right to the ground."
- 2 an aircraft that has a fixed wing and is powered by propellers or jets wordnet
- 3 Synonym of airfoil. An aerodynamic surface. archaic, obsolete
- 4 Any of various nymphalid butterflies, of various genera, having a slow gliding flight. Also called planes.
- 1 To fly in an aeroplane. intransitive
- 2 To transport by aeroplane. transitive
"The rod was discarded, and then, hand over hand, the prize of them all was aeroplaned to the top of the cliff."
Example
More examples""I rather like heights. You know, in my last life I must have been ... an aeroplane?" "Usually that would be 'bird' there.""
Etymology
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.https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/Aircraft_Design/NeHoahlhCGMC?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=Joseph+Pline+glider&pg=PA3&printsec=frontcover;https://books.google.at/books?id=fSQUAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA768&dq=Joseph+Pline+brevet+1855&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjgk5Cz_a_wAhXZhf0HHdjNAJwQ6AEwAnoECAIQAg#v=onepage&q=Joseph%20Pline%20brevet%201855&f=false
Related phrases
More for "aeroplane"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.