noun
- a heavier-than-air craft designed to be propelled through the air by flapping wings.
noun
- a heavier-than-air craft sustained in and propelled through the air by flapping wingsAlso called: orthopter
n.1908, from French ornithoptère (1908), a machine designed to fly be mechanical flapping of wings, from ornitho- + Greek pteron “wing” (see pterodactyl). A mode of flight considered promising at least since Leonardo’s day.