noun ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun

1. 1
   An aircraft that generates lift through the flapping of its wings.
2. 2
   heavier-than-air craft that is propelled by the flapping of wings wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms

airplaneorthopterorthopterthopter

Example

More examples

"Leonardo da Vinci's Ornithopter flying machine was never actually created."

Etymology

From French ornithoptère, from Ancient Greek ὄρνιθ- (órnith-) + πτερόν (pterón, “wing”), equivalent to ornitho- + -pter.

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.