Liberal Dictionary English Dictionary
noun
- a heavier-than-air aircraft kept aloft by the upward thrust exerted by the passing air on its fixed wings and driven by propellers, jet propulsion, etc.
- any similar heavier-than-air aircraft, as a glider or helicopter.
noun
- US and Canadian a heavier-than-air powered flying vehicle with fixed wingsAlso called: aeroplane
1907, from air (n.1) + plane (n.1); though the original references are British, the word caught on in American English, where it largely superseded earlier aeroplane (1873 in this sense and still common in British English). Aircraft “airplane” also is from 1907. Lord Byron, speculatively, used air-vessel (1822).