empennage

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noun

The tail assembly of an aircraft.

Similar
tailtail assembly
OriginFrench empennage →
Scrabble 14
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Meanings

nounempennage (plural empennages)

plural empennages

  1. The tail assembly of an aircraft.
  2. The feathers of an arrow or the tail fins of a bomb or rocket used to stabilize the longitudinal axis of the projectile parallel to the flight path.

Synonyms & antonyms

nounthe rear part of an aircraft

Similar
tailtail assembly
Broader
rearback
Also see
tail

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Origin

  1. Frenchempennage
  2. Frenchempennage
  3. Englishempennage

Borrowed from French empennage (“feathers of an arrow”).

More words from French

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

empennage. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/empennage

MLA

“empennage.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/empennage. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “empennage,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/empennage.

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