airplane

/ˈɛəˌpleɪ̯n/

//ˈɛəˌpleɪ̯n// noun

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

"airplane" is a 8-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“airplane” has 11 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #8,004. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#8,004
frequency rank, English
3,931
“A” headwords
11
tracked misspellings
3
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A powered heavier-than-air aircraft with fixed wings.

Corpus desk

Index EN-airplane · airplane · English

airplane · rank #8,004 · 11 variants · 3 confusables

  • FREQ-COMMON #8,004
  • LEN-LONG 8 letters
  • VOW-4 4 vowels
  • CONFUS-LOW 3 pairs
  • VAR-MID 11 variants
  • BOOK-MID 3,931
  • PHOTO-FINISH affection

Nearest frequency peer: affection (-1 rank slots)

Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Rank peers near misspelling magnet “airplane”

Same rarity band: useful when a typo lands on a peer headword

corpus weight

What this shows “airplane” sits among these FrequencyWords peers; misspelling depth is tracked separately in the edit-distance chart.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

airplane vs airplay
75% similar
airplane vs airline
75% similar
airplane vs aeroplane
78% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for airplane
PropertyValue
Headwordairplane
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ˈɛəˌpleɪ̯n/
Letters8
Frequency rank#8,004
Misspellings tracked11
Confusable pairs3
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “airplane”

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right).airplanelands here:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Same rarity band neighbours include “affection” (#8,003), “altitude” (#8,005), “admin” (#8,002). Among 3,931 “A” headwords, “airplane” is #8,004. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 11 spelling variants around airplane (IPA /ˈɛəˌpleɪ̯n/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #8,004 among 3,931 “A” headwords. Wiktionary lists 2 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 11 likely wrong-spelling variants for airplane, with forms such as "aiprlane", "airlpane", and "airpalne". Every one of these variants traces to a single-character edit -- an added or dropped letter, a swapped consonant, or a vowel swap -- the kind of slip a spell-checker is built to catch. It also participates in 3 confusable-pair relationships, "airplay", "airline", "aeroplane", where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

Etymologically, the entry records: Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *h₂ews- Proto-Indo-European *h₂ewsér Proto-Hellenic *auhḗr Ancient Greek ᾱ̓ήρ (āḗr)bor. Latin āēr Old French airbor. Middle English aire English air ▲ Ancient Greek ᾱ̓ήρ (āḗr) Ancient Greek πλανάω (planáō) Ancient Greek πλ… The correct English form is airplane, spelled A-I-R-P-L-A-N-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    A powered heavier-than-air aircraft with fixed wings.
  2. 2
    A game to encourage small children to eat, in which the parent or carer pretends a spoonful of food is an aircraft flying into the child's mouth.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how airplane appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. So, he'd take a spoon and he'd start playing airplane, circling the spoon around in the air until it was ready to land in the runway of my mouth.
  2. Willis wondered what this fellow wanted to do, spoon feed him? Play airplane?

Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *h₂ews- Proto-Indo-European *h₂ewsér Proto-Hellenic *auhḗr Ancient Greek ᾱ̓ήρ (āḗr)bor. Latin āēr Old French airbor. Middle English aire English air ▲ Ancient Greek ᾱ̓ήρ (āḗr) Ancient Greek πλανάω (planáō) Ancient Greek πλάνος (plános) Ancient Greek ᾱ̓ερόπλᾰνος (āeróplănos)der. French aéroplanebor. English aeroplaneclip. English plane English airplane From air + plane as an alteration of aeroplane.

This word in other languages

avión(Español)avion(Français)avião(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • aiprlane
  • airlpane
  • airpalne
  • airplaen
  • airplanne
  • airpllane
  • airplnae
  • airpplane
  • airrplane
  • ariplane
  • iarplane

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of airplane - counted as single-character edits (an insertion, a deletion, or a substituted letter). The larger the bar, the easier the typo is to spot; one-edit slips are the ones that sneak past readers.

aiprlane2airlpane2airpalne2airplaen2airplanne1airpllane1airplnae2airpplane1
Edit distance from "airplane"

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "airplane"?
"airplane" is spelled A-I-R-P-L-A-N-E. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈɛəˌpleɪ̯n/.
What does "airplane" mean?
As a noun, "airplane" means: A powered heavier-than-air aircraft with fixed wings.
What words are commonly confused with "airplane"?
"airplane" is commonly confused with "airplay", "airline", "aeroplane". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "airplane"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "airplane" is /ˈɛəˌpleɪ̯n/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "airplane"?
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *h₂ews- Proto-Indo-European *h₂ewsér Proto-Hellenic *auhḗr Ancient Greek ᾱ̓ήρ (āḗr)bor. Latin āēr Old French airbor. Middle English aire English air ▲ Ancient Greek ᾱ̓ήρ (āḗr) Ancient Greek πλανάω (planáō) Ancien... See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "airplane", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 8 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

altitude#8,005absorbed#8,001Vladimir#7,998biblical#8,012

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (11 here; floor ≥5).

coloured11 variantsprinter11 variantsoverhead11 variantsluckily11 variants

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list