aviation
Americannoun
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the design, development, production, operation, and use of aircraft, especially heavier-than-air aircraft.
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military aircraft.
noun
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the art or science of flying aircraft
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the design, production, and maintenance of aircraft
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military aircraft collectively
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Etymology
Origin of aviation
From French, dating back to 1865–70; see origin at avi-, -ation
Explanation
If it has to do with flying or operating a plane, it has to do with aviation. If someone tells you that he's in aviation school, that means he is learning how to fly a plane. Aviation comes from the Latin avis meaning "bird," an appropriate translation given that aviation deals with travel by air, specifically in a plane. The aviation industry is the business sector dedicated to manufacturing and operating all types of aircraft. Air traffic controllers, when they are awake, are concerned with aviation safety.
Vocabulary lists containing aviation
Flying High: Aviation Words
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The Cay
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November Words
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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.
The biggest rise was in energy products, including a 7% lift in crude oil shipments and a 37.9% rise in refined petroleum products, mainly gasoline and aviation fuel.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 9, 2026
International aviation and shipping increased by 0.2 MtCO2e as they returned to pre-Covid levels.
From BBC • Jun. 9, 2026
“The preliminary report is, in my view, very carefully worded,” says Safety Matters Foundation Amit Singh External link, a nongovernmental organization dedicated to aviation safety.
From Barron's • Jun. 8, 2026
For years, airlines have pointed to sustainable aviation fuel, otherwise known as SAF, as the future of lower-carbon flying.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 2, 2026
Now a military representative called Colonel Bagaev met with Marina Raskova and confirmed that the formal name for her aviation unit would be the 122nd Composite Air Group.
From "A Thousand Sisters" by Elizabeth Wein
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.
