# pilot

> English word · Noun · IPA /ˈpaɪ.lət/ · frequency rank #2,904

## Definitions
1. A person who steers a ship, a helmsman.
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. A guide book for maritime navigation.
4. An instrument for detecting the compass error.
5. A pilot vehicle.
6. A person authorised to drive such a vehicle during an escort.
7. A guide or escort through an unknown or dangerous area.
8. Something serving as a test or trial.
9. Something serving as a test or trial.
10. A tone or signal, usually a single frequency, transmitted over a communications system for control or synchronization purposes.
11. A person who is in charge of the controls of an aircraft.
12. A sample episode of a proposed TV series produced to decide if it should be made or not. If approved, typically the first episode of an actual TV series.
13. A cowcatcher.
14. A racing driver.
15. A pilot light.
16. One who flies a kite.
17. A short plug, sometimes made interchangeable, at the end of a counterbore to guide the tool.

## Etymology
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”).

## Easily confused with
- **pot** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/pilot-vs-pot)
- **pit** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/pilot-vs-pit)
- **plot** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/pilot-vs-plot)
- **Pitt** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/pilot-vs-pitt)
- **polo** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/pilot-vs-polo)
- **pint** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/pilot-vs-pint)
- **ploy** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/pilot-vs-ploy)
- **plow** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/pilot-vs-plow)
- **plat** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/pilot-vs-plat)
- **Prot** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/pilot-vs-prot)
- **plop** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/pilot-vs-plop)
- **pivot** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/pilot-vs-pivot)
- **pinot** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/pilot-vs-pinot)
- **Pinoy** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/pilot-vs-pinoy)
- **pylon** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/pilot-vs-pylon)
- **pilots** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/pilot-vs-pilots)
- **Poirot** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/pilot-vs-poirot)
- **piloted** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/pilot-vs-piloted)
- **Pil** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/pil-vs-pilot)
- **pile** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/pile-vs-pilot)

## Common misspellings (7)
`iplot`, `pillot`, `pilott`, `pilto`, `piolt`, `pliot`, `ppilot`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/pilot