aileron

English

Drawing of an airplane wing showing the aileron.

An aircraft 'rolling', or 'banking', with its ailerons

Etymology

Borrowed from French aileron, diminutive of aile (“wing”), also refers to the extremities of a bird's wings used to control their flight. It first appeared in print in the 7th edition of Cassell's French-English Dictionary of 1877, with its lead meaning of "small wing". In the context of powered airplanes it appears in print about 1908, in the French aviation journal L'Aérophile.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈeɪlərɒn/

Noun

aileron (plural ailerons)

1. The hinged part on the trailing edge of an airplane wing, used to control longitudinal turns.
2. (architecture) A half gable, as at the end of a penthouse or of the aisle of a church.

Coordinate terms

• elevator
• fin
• flap
• rudder
• sharklet
• slat
• spoiler
• strake
• variable sweep
• vortex generator
• wing
• wing fence
• winglet
• wing warping

 

Derived terms

• aileron authority
• aileron roll
• elevon
• flaperon
• Frise aileron
• rolleron
• rudderon
• spoileron

 

Translations

Hinged part on trailing edge of airplane wing

• Catalan: aleró (ca) m
• Czech: křidélko n
• Dutch: rolroer (nl) n, aileron m
• Esperanto: alerono
• Finnish: siiveke (fi), ohjaussiiveke
• French: aileron (fr) m
• German: Querruder (de)
• Greek: πηδάλιο κλίσης (el) n (pidálio klísis)
• Irish: ailearán m
• Italian: alettone (it) m, alerone m
• Norwegian: balanseror n
• Polish: lotka (pl) f
• Portuguese: ailerão m
• Romanian: eleron (ro) n
• Russian: элеро́н (ru) m (elerón)
• Spanish: alerón (es) m
• Swedish: skevroder n

See also

• spoiler

Anagrams

• alerion, alienor

Dutch

Etymology

Borrowed from French aileron.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˌɛ.ləˈrɔn/

• Audio

  (file)

• Hyphenation: ai‧le‧ron
• Rhymes: -ɔn

Noun

aileron m (plural ailerons)

1. aileron (aeroplane part)

   Synonym: rolroer

French

Etymology

From aile +‎ -eron.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɛl.ʁɔ̃/

• Audio (FR)

  (file)

Noun

aileron m (plural ailerons)

1. (anatomy) fin (of some fish)
2. (anatomy) flipper (of penguins and other animals)
3. aileron
4. spoiler (of an automobile)

Usage notes

See nageoire

Descendants

• → Dutch: aileron
• → English: aileron
• → Portuguese: ailerão
• → Spanish: alerón

See also

• nageoire

Further reading

• “aileron”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

Anagrams

• Aliénor
• enrôlai

Indonesian

Etymology

From English aileron, from French aileron.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ai̯.ləˈrɔn]
• Hyphenation: ai‧lê‧ron

Noun

aileron (first-person possessive aileronku, second-person possessive aileronmu, third-person possessive aileronnya)

1. aileron

Further reading

• “aileron” in Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia, Jakarta: Language Development and Fostering Agency — Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology of the Republic Indonesia, 2016.

Portuguese

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from French aileron.

Noun

aileron m (plural ailerons)

1. Alternative form of ailerão