airplane
air·plane/ˈɛɹˌpleɪ̯n/noun, verb
airplane is spelled A-I-R-P-L-A-N-E: 8 letters and 2 syllables (air·plane). It appears 8.3 times per million words in written English, the 8,036th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, airplane means “A powered heavier-than-air aircraft with fixed wings: a fixed-wing aircraft with at least one engine or electric motor” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of airplane is airplanes.
How many letters and syllables are in airplane?
| Letters | 8: A-I-R-P-L-A-N-E |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2: air·plane |
| In writing | 8.3 times per million words; the 8,036th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is airplane?
Airplane appears 8.3 times per million words in written English, the 8,036th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce airplane?
- UK /ˈɛəˌpleɪ̯n/
- US /ˈɛɹˌpleɪ̯n/
Airplane has 2 syllables, split air·plane in writing.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-airplane.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of airplane
- airplanes plural, present, singular, he/she/it
- aeroplane
- aëroplane
- plane
- airplaning participle, present
- airplaned participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does airplane mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
CanadaUSA powered heavier-than-air aircraft with fixed wings: a fixed-wing aircraft with at least one engine or electric motor.
on an airplane
- 2
CanadaUSOne that can carry a person or persons.
They use airplanes to deliver mail and supplies to the far northern villages.
- 3
Any of various small flyable objects that are notionally comparable to such aircraft but aren't powered.
toy airplane
- 4
CanadaUSA game to encourage small children to eat, in which the parent or carer pretends that a spoonful of food is an aircraft flying into the child's mouth; the spoonful itself.
Near-synonym: choo-choo train
verb
- 1
To fly in an aeroplane.
- 2
To transport by aeroplane.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Airplane in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense powered aircraft:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | avion, aéroplane |
| German | Flugzeug, Flieger, Maschine |
| Portuguese | avião, aeroplano |
| Spanish | avión, aeroplano |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does airplane come from?
From air + plane as an alteration of aeroplane.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).