aviation (English)
Where does "aviation" come from?
The English noun 'aviation' was borrowed from French 'aviation'[1], a term coined in 1863 by French journalist Guillaume Joseph Gabriel La Landelle[3]. The French creation combined the Latin 'avis', meaning 'bird', with the suffix '-ation'[3]. This Latin root traces further back through Proto-Italic '*awis'[2] to the Proto-Indo-European root '*h₂éwis'[4].
Open questions
- The Proto-Italic form and Proto-Indo-European root are reconstructed forms. [2] [4]
Full etymology tree
- aviation (English), 'The art or science of making and flying aircraft.'
- borrowed aviation (French), 'aviation (art or science of flying)'
- derived avis (Latin), 'a bird'
- inherited *awis (Proto-Italic), 'bird'
- inherited *h₂éwis (Proto-Indo-European), 'bird'
- inherited *awis (Proto-Italic), 'bird'
- suffix -ation (French), 'Used to indicate action, condition, result or effect; -ation'
- derived avis (Latin), 'a bird'
- borrowed aviation (French), 'aviation (art or science of flying)'
Ancestors
- aviation (French)
- avis (Latin)
Descendants and derived words
- av (English)
- av (English)
- av (English)
- av (English)
- avgas (English)
- aviation blonde (English)
- aviation cruiser (English)
- aviation fuel (English)
- avionics (English)
- civil aviation (English)
- general aviation (English)
- general of aviation (English)
Sources
- aviation (English) - Wiktionary
- avis (Latin) - Wiktionary
- aviation (French) - Wiktionary
- awis (Proto-Italic) - Wiktionary
Updated October 2026
Etymology data from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · About Miraris