wingspan

W4I1N1G2S1P3A1N1
/ˈwɪŋ.spæn/

noun

The distance from the left wingtip to the right wingtip (of a bird, airplane etc.).

“The wandering albatross has the largest wingspan of any living bird.”

Similar
wingspreadarm span
Less commonScrabble 14
Ask AI about this wordChatGPTClaudePerplexityGoogle AIGrok

Meanings

nounwingspan (plural wingspans)

plural wingspans

  1. The distance from the left wingtip to the right wingtip (of a bird, airplane etc.).

    The wandering albatross has the largest wingspan of any living bird.

    1 more example

    The Airbus A380 has one of the largest wingspans among aircraft; only a few surpass it.

    Synonyms: wingspread

  2. Synonym of arm span.

    Synonyms: arm span

Synonyms & antonyms

nounThe distance from the left wingtip to the right wingtip (of a bird, airplane etc.).

Similar
wingspread

nounSynonym of arm span.

Similar
arm span

More synonyms by meaning

nounlinear distance between the extremities of an airfoil

Similar
wingspread
Broader
distancelength
Also see
arm spanwingspread

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Origin

From wing + span.

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Catalan envergadura
  • envergadurathe distance from left wingtip to right
Chinese Mandarin 翼展
  • 翼展 (yìzhǎn)the distance from left wingtip to right
Czech rozpětí křídel
  • rozpětí křídelthe distance from left wingtip to right
Danish vingefang
  • vingefangthe distance from left wingtip to right
Dutch spanwijdte
  • spanwijdtethe distance from left wingtip to right
Esperanto enverguro
  • envergurothe distance from left wingtip to right
Finnish siipien kärkiväli, siipiväli
  • siipien kärkivälithe distance from left wingtip to right
  • siipivälithe distance from left wingtip to right
  • kärkivälithe distance from left wingtip to right
French envergure
  • envergurethe distance from left wingtip to right
German Flügelspannweite, Spannweite
  • Flügelspannweitethe distance from left wingtip to right
  • Spannweitethe distance from left wingtip to right
Hungarian szárnyfesztávolság, fesztávolság
  • szárnyfesztávolságthe distance from left wingtip to right
  • fesztávolságthe distance from left wingtip to right
  • fesztávthe distance from left wingtip to right
  • szárnyszélességthe distance from left wingtip to right
Icelandic vænghaf
  • vænghafthe distance from left wingtip to right
Irish réise sciathán
  • réise sciathánthe distance from left wingtip to right
Italian apertura alare
  • apertura alarethe distance from left wingtip to right
Norwegian Bokmål vingespenn
  • vingespennthe distance from left wingtip to right
Polish rozpiętość skrzydeł
  • rozpiętość skrzydełthe distance from left wingtip to right
Portuguese envergadura
  • envergadurathe distance from left wingtip to right
Russian разма́х кры́льев
  • разма́х кры́льев (razmáx krýlʹjev)the distance from left wingtip to right
Spanish envergadura
  • envergadurathe distance from left wingtip to right
Swedish vingbredd
  • vingbreddthe distance from left wingtip to right
Welsh lled esgyll, lled adenydd
  • lled esgyllthe distance from left wingtip to right
  • lled adenyddthe distance from left wingtip to right

Rhymes & wordplay

Anagrams

spawning
Cite this entry
APA

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

MLA

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

Chicago

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

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