Etymology

airplane

air·plane
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Today it means: A powered heavier-than-air aircraft with fixed wings: a fixed-wing aircraft with at least one engine or electric motor. Full definition →

English plane ← French aéroplane ← Ancient Greek ᾱ̓ερόπλᾰνος (āeróplănos)
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The story

  1. Proto-Indo-European*h₂ews-
  2. Proto-Indo-European*h₂ewsér
  3. Proto-Hellenic*auhḗr
  4. Ancient Greekᾱ̓ήρ (āḗr)
  5. Latināēr
  6. Old Frenchair
  7. Middle Englishaire
  8. Englishair
  9. Ancient Greekᾱ̓ήρ (āḗr)
  10. Ancient Greekπλανάω (planáō)
  11. Ancient Greekᾱ̓ερόπλᾰνος (āeróplănos)
  12. Frenchaéroplane
  13. Englishaeroplaneclip.
  14. Englishplane
  15. English todayairplane

From air + plane as an alteration of aeroplane.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.