Etymology

helicopter

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Today it means: An aircraft that is borne along by one or more sets of long rotating blades which allow it to hover, move in any direction including reverse, or land; and typically having a smaller set of blades on its tail to stabilize the aircraft. Full definition →

French hélicoptère ← Ancient Greek πτερόν (pterón) ← Proto-Hellenic *pterón
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The story

  1. Proto-Indo-European*welH-
  2. Ancient Greekἕλιξ (hélix)
  3. Proto-Indo-European*peth₂-
  4. Proto-Indo-European*péth₂r̥
  5. Proto-Hellenic*pterón
  6. Ancient Greekπτερόν (pterón)
  7. Frenchhélicoptère
  8. English todayhelicopter

Borrowed from French hélicoptère, from Ancient Greek ἕλιξ (hélix, “spiral”) + πτερόν (pterón, “wing”). Doublet of helicopteron. By surface analysis, helico- + -pter. The dragonfly sense is from a dragonfly's ability to hover and fly in any direction, like the flying machine.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.