Where does “airplane” come from?
Airplane is a compound of air and plane, where plane derives from Latin planus meaning flat, itself from Ancient Greek πλάτανος, ultimately tracing to Proto-Indo-European pleth₂- meaning to spread.
airplane (English): A powered heavier-than-air aircraft with fixed...
Definitions
- A powered heavier-than-air aircraft with fixed...
Ancestry of “airplane”, step by step
airplane traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.
via English plane
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | plane | Of a surface: flat or level; A level or flat... |
| 2 | Middle English | plane | — |
| 3 | Old French | plane | — |
| 4 | Latin | platanus | planetree, sycamore |
| 5 | Greek | πλάτανος | plane tree |
| 6 | Ancient Greek | πλάτανος | planetree |
| 7 | Ancient Greek | πλατύς | wide, broad; flat, level; broad-shouldered |
| 8 | Proto-Indo-European | pléth₂us | flat, broad |
| 9 | Proto-Indo-European | pleth₂- | flat |