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pilot

pi·lot/ˈpaɪ̯.lət/noun, adjective, verb

pilot is spelled P-I-L-O-T: 5 letters and 2 syllables (pi·lot). It appears 33 times per million words in written English, the 2,888th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, pilot means “A person who steers a ship, a helmsman” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of pilot is pilots.

How many letters and syllables are in pilot?

Letters5: P-I-L-O-T
Syllables2: pi·lot
In writing33 times per million words; the 2,888th most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searchednone 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 pilot?

Pilot appears 33 times per million words in written English, the 2,888th 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 pilot?

  • /ˈpaɪ̯.lət/
  • [ˈpʰaɪ̯.lət]
  • Australia /ˈpɑɪ̯.lət/

Pilot has 2 syllables, split pi·lot in writing.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-pilot.ogg, En-au-pilot.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

Forms of pilot

  • pilots plural, present, singular, he/she/it
  • piloting participle, present
  • piloted participle, past

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What does pilot mean?

The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).

noun

  1. 1

    A person who steers a ship, a helmsman.

  2. 2

    A person who knows well the depths, shoals, and currents of a harbor or coastal area, who is hired by a vessel to help navigate the harbor or coast.

  3. 3

    A guide book for maritime navigation.

  4. 4

    An instrument for detecting the compass error.

  5. 5

    AustraliainformalA pilot vehicle.

  6. 6

    AustraliaA person authorised to drive such a vehicle during an escort.

  7. 7

    A guide or escort through an unknown or dangerous area.

    So we mounted our horses, and put out for that town, under the direction of two friendly Creeks we had taken for pilots.

  8. 8

    Something serving as a test or trial.

    We would like to run a pilot in your facility before rolling out the program citywide.

adjective

  1. 1

    Made or used as a test or demonstration of capability.

    a pilot run of the new factory

  2. 2

    Used to control or activate another device.

    a pilot light

  3. 3

    Being a vehicle to warn other road users of the presence of an oversize vehicle or combination.

    a pilot vehicle

verb

  1. 1

    To control (an aircraft or watercraft).

  2. 2

    To guide (a vessel) through coastal waters.

  3. 3

    To test or have a preliminary trial of (an idea, a new product, television show, etc.)

  4. 4

    To serve as the leading locomotive on a double-headed train.

  5. 5

    To guide or conduct (a person) somewhere.

noun

as PILOT
  1. 1

    Acronym of payment in lieu of taxes

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

Pilot in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Frenchpilote (controller of aircraft), programme pilote (sample TV series episode)
GermanPilot, Pilotin, Flugzeugführer, Flugzeugführerin (controller of aircraft), Lotse (person who helps navigate the harbor or coast), führen (to control an aircraft or watercraft)
Portuguesepiloto (controller of aircraft), prático (person who helps navigate the harbor or coast), pilotar (to control an aircraft or watercraft)
Spanishpiloto, aeronauta (controller of aircraft), práctico (person who helps navigate the harbor or coast), pilotar, pilotear (to control an aircraft or watercraft)

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 pilot come from?

From Middle French pilot, pillot, from Italian pilota, piloto, older also pedotta, pedot(t)o (the form in pil- is probably influenced by pileggiare (“to sail, navigate”)); ultimately from unattested Byzantine Greek *πηδώτης (*pēdṓtēs, “helmsman”), from Ancient Greek πηδόν (pēdón, “blade of an oar, oar”), hence also Ancient and Modern Greek πηδάλιον (pēdálion, “rudder”).

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What to look up after pilot