aeroplane
Americannoun
noun
Etymology
Origin of aeroplane
1870–75; < French aéroplane, equivalent to aéro- aero- + -plane, apparently feminine of plan flat, level (< Latin plānus; cf. plain 1), perhaps by association with forme plane; apparently coined and first used by French sculptor and inventor Joseph Pline in 1855
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Multiple land and ground water assessments from the time make reference to the fire training area - where firefighters would practice putting out an aeroplane set on fire above a "pond" of fuel.
From BBC ● Jun. 23, 2026
"This is the blueprint of my life," said the actor, a lifelong aeroplane nut, who narrates the story.
From Barron's ● May 15, 2026
A 70-year-old man has died after a light aeroplane crash-landed at an airfield near Sherburn in Elmet.
From BBC ● Nov. 2, 2025
India trialled cloud seeding over its smog-filled capital for the first time, spraying a chemical from an aeroplane to encourage rain and wash deadly particles out of the air.
From Barron's ● Oct. 24, 2025
But an aeroplane can also turn in another way once it is in the air, and that way is also called banking.
From "Dragonwings" by Laurence Yep
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
