aircraft

air·craft
A1I1R1C3R1A1F4T1
UK/ˈɛə.kɹɑːft/UK/ˈɛː.kɹɑːft/US/ˈɛɚ.kɹæft/US/ˈɛɹ̩.kɹæft/

noun

A vehicle capable of atmospheric flight due to interaction with the air, such as buoyancy or lift.

“light aircraft”

Similar
aerocraftflying machine
OriginEnglish craft ← Middle English craft ← Old English cræft →
CommonScrabble 13
Ask AI about this wordChatGPTClaudePerplexityGoogle AIGrok

Meanings

nounaircraft (plural aircraft or (nonstandard) aircrafts)

nonstandard plural aircrafts

  1. A vehicle capable of atmospheric flight due to interaction with the air, such as buoyancy or lift.

    light aircraft

    5 more examples

    aircraft manufacturer

    aircraft licence

    6.2.3.2.2. For aircraft having pressurized cabins, the disinsection of cabins and annexes, cockpit and annexes, is to be carried out after the embarkation of passengers and crew and the closing of the doors and windscreen[.]

    1949, World Health Organization, Report on the 1st- Session May 10-15, page 19

    More than 100 provincial and municipal firefighters were brought in, with helicopters and aircraft used to drop water and fire retardant, while bulldozers were digging firebreaks.

    2016 May 4, Nicky Woolf, “Fort McMurray: Canada wildfires force evacuation of oil sands city”, in The Guardian, archived from the original on 12 Nov 2025

    The US Air Force has 383 F-35As in its fleet, according to the International Institute for Strategic Studies. The F-35A is one of the three versions of the US military’s stealth fighter. The Marine Corps flies the F-35B – a short take-off, vertical landing aircraft – and the Navy flies the F-35C, designed for aircraft carrier operations.

    2025 April 10, Brad Lendon, “‘Frankenjet’ stealth fighter made from two wrecked warplanes joins US Air Force fleet”, in CNN, archived from the original on 28 Apr 2025
    1. sometimesOne that can carry a person or persons.

Synonyms & antonyms

Similar
aerocraftflying machine
Broader
vehicle
Narrower
aerodyneaeroplaneaerostatairplaneairshipautogyroballoonblimpchopperdirigibleglidergyrocopterhelicopterornithopterparagliderplanerotorcraftseaplaneultralightwhirlybirdzeppelin

Origin

  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. Proto-Germanic*krafjaną
  10. Proto-Germanic*kraftuz
  11. Proto-West Germanic*kraftu
  12. Old Englishcræft
  13. Middle Englishcraft
  14. Englishcraft
  15. Englishaircraft

From air + -craft.

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Afrikaans lugvaartuig
  • lugvaartuigmachine capable of atmospheric flight
Arabic طَائِرَة
  • طَائِرَة (ṭāʔira)machine capable of atmospheric flight
Basque hegazkinen
  • hegazkinenmachine capable of atmospheric flight
Bengali বিমান
  • বিমান (biman)machine capable of atmospheric flight
Bulgarian самолет
  • самолет (samolet)machine capable of atmospheric flight
Catalan aeronau
  • aeronaumachine capable of atmospheric flight
Chinese Mandarin 航空器, 飛機 /飞机
  • 航空器 (hángkōngqì)machine capable of atmospheric flight
  • 飛機 /飞机 (fēijī)machine capable of atmospheric flight
Czech letadlo
  • letadlomachine capable of atmospheric flight
Danish luftfartøj
  • luftfartøjmachine capable of atmospheric flight
Dutch luchtvaartuig
  • luchtvaartuigmachine capable of atmospheric flight
Esperanto aerveturilo
  • aerveturilomachine capable of atmospheric flight
Estonian õhusõiduk
  • õhusõidukmachine capable of atmospheric flight
Finnish lentokone, ilma-alus
  • lentokonemachine capable of atmospheric flight
  • ilma-alusmachine capable of atmospheric flight
French aéronef, avion
  • aéronefmachine capable of atmospheric flight
  • avionmachine capable of atmospheric flight
German Luftfahrzeug, Flugzeug
  • Luftfahrzeugmachine capable of atmospheric flight
  • Flugzeugmachine capable of atmospheric flight
Greek αεροσκάφος
  • αεροσκάφος (aeroskáfos)machine capable of atmospheric flight
Hebrew כְּלִי טַיִס
  • כְּלִי טַיִס (kli-tayis)machine capable of atmospheric flight
Hindi विमान
  • विमान (vimān)machine capable of atmospheric flight
Hungarian légi jármű, repülőgép
  • légi járműmachine capable of atmospheric flight
  • repülőgépmachine capable of atmospheric flight
  • repülőmachine capable of atmospheric flight
Icelandic loftfar
  • loftfarmachine capable of atmospheric flight
Indonesian pesawat udara
  • pesawat udaramachine capable of atmospheric flight
Irish aerárthach
  • aerárthachmachine capable of atmospheric flight
Italian aeromobile
  • aeromobilemachine capable of atmospheric flight
Japanese 航空機, 飛行機
  • 航空機 (kōkūki)machine capable of atmospheric flight
  • 飛行機 (hikōki)machine capable of atmospheric flight
Korean 항공기
  • 항공기 (hanggonggi)machine capable of atmospheric flight
Latin aërium vehīculum
  • aërium vehīculummachine capable of atmospheric flight
Latvian lidmašīna, lidaparāts
  • lidmašīnamachine capable of atmospheric flight
  • lidaparātsmachine capable of atmospheric flight
Malay pesawat
  • pesawatmachine capable of atmospheric flight
Norwegian Bokmål luftfartøy
  • luftfartøymachine capable of atmospheric flight
Persian هواپیما
  • هواپیما (havâpeymâ)machine capable of atmospheric flight
Polish statek powietrzny, aerodyna
  • statek powietrznymachine capable of atmospheric flight
  • aerodynamachine capable of atmospheric flight
Portuguese aeronave
  • aeronavemachine capable of atmospheric flight
Romanian aeronavă, aparat de zbor
  • aeronavămachine capable of atmospheric flight
  • aparat de zbormachine capable of atmospheric flight
  • aparat zburătormachine capable of atmospheric flight
Russian лета́тельный аппара́т, возду́шное су́дно
  • лета́тельный аппара́т (letátelʹnyj apparát)machine capable of atmospheric flight
  • возду́шное су́дно (vozdúšnoje súdno)machine capable of atmospheric flight
  • самолёт (samoljót)machine capable of atmospheric flight
Slovak lietadlo
  • lietadlomachine capable of atmospheric flight
Spanish aeronave
  • aeronavemachine capable of atmospheric flight
Swedish luftfartyg, luftfarkost
  • luftfartygmachine capable of atmospheric flight
  • luftfarkostmachine capable of atmospheric flight
Tagalog eroplano
  • eroplanomachine capable of atmospheric flight
Tamil விமானம்
  • விமானம் (vimāṉam)machine capable of atmospheric flight
Thai อากาศยาน
  • อากาศยาน (aa-gàat-sà-yaan)machine capable of atmospheric flight
Turkish hava taşıtı, hava aracı
  • hava taşıtımachine capable of atmospheric flight
  • hava aracımachine capable of atmospheric flight
Ukrainian літа́льний апара́т, пові́тря́не судно́
  • літа́льний апара́т (litálʹnyj aparát)machine capable of atmospheric flight
  • пові́тря́не судно́ (povítrjáne sudnó)machine capable of atmospheric flight
  • літак (litak)machine capable of atmospheric flight
Urdu طیارہ, ہوائی جہاز
  • طیارہ (teyāra)machine capable of atmospheric flight
  • ہوائی جہاز (hawāī-jahāz)machine capable of atmospheric flight
  • جہاز (jahāz)machine capable of atmospheric flight
  • ہوا پیما (hawā-pemā)machine capable of atmospheric flight
Vietnamese phi cơ, máy bay
  • phi cơmachine capable of atmospheric flight
  • máy baymachine capable of atmospheric flight
Cite this entry
APA

aircraft. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/aircraft

MLA

“aircraft.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/aircraft. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “aircraft,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/aircraft.

Source: aircraft on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.