dirigible

[ dir-i-juh-buhl, dih-rij-uh- ]

noun

1. an airship.

adjective

1. designed for or capable of being directed, controlled, or steered.

dirigible

/ dɪˈrɪdʒɪbəl /

adjective

1. able to be steered or directed

noun

1. See airship
   another name for airship

Derived Forms

• ˌdirigiˈbility, noun

Other Words From

• dir·i·gi·bil·i·ty noun
• non·dir·i·gi·bili·ty noun
• non·dir·i·gi·ble adjective noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of dirigible¹

First recorded in 1580–90 for the adjective and in 1885–90 for the noun; from Latin dīrigere, dēregere “to arrange, align, straighten, direct” + English adjective suffix -ible; direct, -ible

Word History and Origins

Origin of dirigible¹

C16: from Latin dīrigere to direct

Example Sentences

Other inventions, which never quite succeeded, included a sailboat with an adjustable mast, a dirigible, a fiberglass ukulele and a solid-foam football, with grooves in the surface.

From Washington Post

If people die in the service of something that seems less noble, the space market as a whole could dry up as fast as the dirigible business did following the Hindenburg disaster.

From Time

The United States Naval Observatory even sent a radio receiver aloft on a dirigible to pick up a potential Martian message, with a cryptographer on hand in case translations were needed.

From Quanta Magazine

His only regret seemed to be that he, too, could not have a dirigible balloon and a countess—on ten francs a week!

From Project Gutenberg

For in the matter of mines the Boodah had all the advantages of a shore, and as to dirigible torpedoes more than all.

From Project Gutenberg

Efficient air gun as a weapon; improvements in army tents; improvements in dirigible balloons and aeroplanes for military uses.

From Project Gutenberg

Dirigible balloons are divided into three classes: the rigid, the semi-rigid, and the non-rigid.

From Project Gutenberg

The aeroplane, more than the dirigible and balloon, stands as the emblem of the conquest of the air.

From Project Gutenberg