Etymology

rudderon

R1U1D2D2E1R1O1N1

Today it means: A type of control surface, usually found on flying wing aircraft, consisting of two pairs of panels (one mounted near each wingtip on the wing's trailing edge), with one lying on top of the other sandwich-style; to roll the aircraft, both panels on one wing deflect downwards (increasing the lift of that wing) and both panels on the othe wing deflect upwards (decreasing the lift of that wing), while, to yaw the aircraft, the panels on one wing split apart from each other (the upper panel deflects upwards, and the lower panel deflects downwards), increasing the drag on that wing. Full definition →

English aileron ← French aileron ← Middle French aisle
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The story

  1. Proto-Indo-European*h₁reh₁-
  2. Proto-Indo-European*h₁roh₁-(ye-)-ti
  3. Proto-Germanic*rōaną
  4. Proto-Germanic*rōþrą
  5. Proto-West Germanic*rōþr
  6. Old Englishrōþor
  7. Middle Englishrother
  8. Englishrudder
  9. Proto-Indo-European*h₂eǵ-?
  10. Proto-Indo-European*h₂eḱs-
  11. Proto-Italic*aksis
  12. Latinaxis
  13. Latin*axla
  14. Latināla
  15. Old Frenchaile
  16. Middle Frenchaisle
  17. Frenchaile
  18. Frenchaileron
  19. Englishaileron
  20. English todayrudderon

Blend of rudder + aileron.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.