aerodynamic

What it means

1. Of, or relating to the science of aerodynamics.

   The faster an F1 car goes, the more turbulent the aerodynamic wake it leaves behind it.

   2024 April 3, Joe Holding, Rebecca Braybrook, “What do DRS, black and white flag, porpoising and more mean? F1 terms explained”, in Autosport, archived from the original on 16 Apr 2025

2. Having a shape that reduces drag when moving through the air.

   aerodynamic plane

   3 more examples

   aerodynamic vehicle

   aerodynamic wings

   At its rear, "space-grade" solar panels constantly reposition themselves to face the sun, thanks to an algorithm that combines GPS, the car's direction and the time of the day to work out the sun's position; the glass canopy makes the car aerodynamic and lets in 95% of the sunlight.

   2013 September 6, Tom Cheshire, “Solar-powered travel”, in The Guardian Weekly, volume 189, number 13, archived from the original on 11 Apr 2023, page 34

In a sentence

The faster an F1 car goes, the more turbulent the aerodynamic wake it leaves behind it.

2024 April 3, Joe Holding, Rebecca Braybrook, “What do DRS, black and white flag, porpoising and more mean? F1 terms explained”, in Autosport, archived from the original on 16 Apr 2025

Where it comes from

1. Proto-Indo-European*h₂ews-
2. Proto-Indo-European*h₂ewsér
3. Proto-Hellenic*auhḗr
4. Ancient Greekᾱ̓ήρ (āḗr)
5. Ancient Greekἀέρος (aéros)
6. Englishaero-
7. Proto-Indo-European*dewh₂-
8. Proto-Hellenic*dunamai
9. Ancient Greekδῠ́νᾰμαι (dŭ́nămai)
10. Ancient Greekδύναμις (dúnamis)
11. Ancient Greekδυναμικός (dunamikós)
12. Frenchdynamique
13. Englishdynamic
14. Englishaerodynamic

From aero- + dynamic, after aerodynamics. Compare French aérodynamique and German aerodynamisch.