Meanings
nounUAV (plural UAVs)
plural UAVs
- abbreviationinitialismaeronauticsInitialism of unmanned aerial vehicle or uncrewed aerial vehicle: an aircraft with no onboard pilot, and sometimes completely unpiloted (autonomous), that is capable of controlled, sustained, level flight.
Near-synonym: UAS (the whole system versus the device itself; loosely synonymous)
2 more examples
Both groups have recently started testing their first prototypes. Matternet ran a series of successful field tests of its prototype UAVs in the Dominican Republic and Haiti in September, and met local groups to sell the idea.
2012 December 1, “An internet of airborne things”, in The Economist, volume 405, number 8813, archived from the original on 11 Mar 2023, page 3 (Technology Quarterly)Ukrainian and foreign UAV makers rock up early at an open field in the outskirts of Kyiv, to take part in a drone competition organized by the Ministry of Digital Transformation.
2023 June 3, Vasco Cotovio, Tim Lister, Frederik Pleitgen, William Bonnett and Daria Tarasova, “Exclusive: Inside Ukraine’s secretive drone program”, in CNNSynonyms: drone, UAS[Appendix:Glossary
Synonyms & antonyms
Also see
Translations
Afrikaans onbemande vliegtuig
- onbemande vliegtuigunmanned aerial vehicle
Arabic طائرة دون طيار
- طائرة دون طيارunmanned aerial vehicle
Bengali মনুষ্যবিহীন আকাশযান
- মনুষ্যবিহীন আকাশযান (monuśśobihin akaśjan)unmanned aerial vehicle
Catalan vehicle aeri no tripulat
- vehicle aeri no tripulatunmanned aerial vehicle
Chinese Mandarin 無人航空載具 /无人航空载具, 無人機 /无人机
- 無人航空載具 /无人航空载具 (wúrén hángkōng zàijù)unmanned aerial vehicle
- 無人機 /无人机 (wúrénjī)unmanned aerial vehicle
Czech bezpilotní letadlo
- bezpilotní letadlounmanned aerial vehicle
Dutch onbemand luchtvaartuig
- onbemand luchtvaartuigunmanned aerial vehicle
Esperanto senpilota aviadilo
- senpilota aviadilounmanned aerial vehicle
Estonian mehitamata õhusõiduk
- mehitamata õhusõidukunmanned aerial vehicle
Finnish miehittämätön ilma-alus
- miehittämätön ilma-alusunmanned aerial vehicle
French véhicule aérien sans pilote à bord
- véhicule aérien sans pilote à bordunmanned aerial vehicle
German unbemanntes Luftfahrzeug, unbemanntes Fluggerät
- unbemanntes Luftfahrzeugunmanned aerial vehicle
- unbemanntes Fluggerätunmanned aerial vehicle
- unbemanntes Kleinfluggerätunmanned aerial vehicle
- Drohneunmanned aerial vehicle
Hebrew כלי טיס בלתי מאויש
- כלי טיס בלתי מאוישunmanned aerial vehicle
Hindi मानव रहित विमान
- मानव रहित विमान (mānav rahit vimān)unmanned aerial vehicle
Hungarian pilóta nélküli repülőgép
- pilóta nélküli repülőgépunmanned aerial vehicle
Icelandic dróni
- dróniunmanned aerial vehicle
Indonesian pesawat nirawak
- pesawat nirawakunmanned aerial vehicle
Irish aerfheithicil gan foireann
- aerfheithicil gan foireannunmanned aerial vehicle
Italian aeromobile a pilotaggio remoto
- aeromobile a pilotaggio remotounmanned aerial vehicle
Japanese 無人航空機
- 無人航空機unmanned aerial vehicle
Latvian bezpilota lidaparāts
- bezpilota lidaparātsunmanned aerial vehicle
Lithuanian bepilotis orlaivis
- bepilotis orlaivisunmanned aerial vehicle
Malay pesawat udara tanpa pemandu
- pesawat udara tanpa pemanduunmanned aerial vehicle
Māori waka matatopa, matatopa
- waka matatopaunmanned aerial vehicle
- matatopaunmanned aerial vehicle
Polish bezzałogowy statek powietrzny, dron
- bezzałogowy statek powietrznyunmanned aerial vehicle
- dronunmanned aerial vehicle
- bezzałogowiecunmanned aerial vehicle
- bezpilotowiecunmanned aerial vehicle
Portuguese veículo aéreo não tripulado
- veículo aéreo não tripuladounmanned aerial vehicle
Romanian aeronavă fără pilot
- aeronavă fără pilotunmanned aerial vehicle
Russian БПЛА
- БПЛА (BPLA)unmanned aerial vehicle
Slovak bezpilotné lietadlo
- bezpilotné lietadlounmanned aerial vehicle
Spanish vehículo aéreo no tripulado
- vehículo aéreo no tripuladounmanned aerial vehicle
Tamil ஆளில்லாத வானூர்தி
- ஆளில்லாத வானூர்தி (āḷillāta vāṉūrti)unmanned aerial vehicle
Thai โดรน
- โดรน (droon)unmanned aerial vehicle
Turkish İHA, insansız hava aracı
- İHAunmanned aerial vehicle
- insansız hava aracıunmanned aerial vehicle
Ukrainian БЛА, безпілотний літальний апарат
- БЛА (BLA)unmanned aerial vehicle
- безпілотний літальний апарат (bezpilotnyj litalʹnyj aparat)unmanned aerial vehicle
Rhymes & wordplay
Anagrams
Cite this entry
APA
UAV. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/UAV
MLA
“UAV.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/UAV. Accessed November 3, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “UAV,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/UAV.
Source: UAV on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.