pilot

A2 Topic:People & Society

US /ˈpaɪ.lət/ See IPA manual

Freq #2397

Meanings

1

noun
A person who flies an aircraft.

The pilot announced that we would land in twenty minutes.
2

verb
To fly or steer an aircraft or ship.

She has piloted small planes for over ten years.
3

noun
A small test of a project or plan before it is done on a large scale.

The company ran a pilot in one city before launching nationwide.
4

noun
The first episode of a new television series, made to see if it will be successful.

The network loved the pilot and ordered a full season.
5

adj
Done as a first test or trial.

They started a pilot programme in three schools.

Verb forms

Verb forms are not available for this word yet.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

2 verb · to fly or steer an aircraft... fly

Word family

Forms pilotedpilotingpilots

Derived forms autopilotco-pilotcopilotcow-pilothelipilotnonpilotpilot-holepilotabilitypilotablepilotagepilotbirdpilotess

Appears in

Phrases (1)

See all

pilot experiment
a small preliminary experiment used to guide a larger investigation

Adjective + noun

Simplified etymology

Pilot originally meant a person who steers a ship. Its ultimate source is Greek pēdon, meaning “oar” or “rudder”; by the 1830s, pilot was also being applied to someone who flew a balloon.

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”).

pilot Middle French pilota Italian *πηδώτης gkm πηδόν Ancient Greek

View etymology graph ->

Topics

People & Society Aviation & Flight

External links

# pilot

**Type:** Word
**Level:** A2
**Part of speech:** noun, verb, adj
**IPA (US):** /ˈpaɪ.lət/
**Frequency rank:** 2397

## Meanings
1. A person who flies an aircraft.
2. To fly or steer an aircraft or ship.
3. A small test of a project or plan before it is done on a large scale.
4. The first episode of a new television series, made to see if it will be successful.
5. Done as a first test or trial.

## Examples
- The pilot announced that we would land in twenty minutes.
- She has piloted small planes for over ten years.
- The company ran a pilot in one city before launching nationwide.
- The network loved the pilot and ordered a full season.
- They started a pilot programme in three schools.

## Derived Forms
- autopilot
- co-pilot
- copilot
- cow-pilot
- helipilot
- nonpilot
- pilot-hole
- pilotability
- pilotable
- pilotage
- pilotbird
- pilotess

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: pilot
- Root: pilota
- Root: *πηδώτης
- Root: πηδόν

## 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”).

## AI Etymology
Pilot comes 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”). In present-day English it covers a person who flies an aircraft, to fly or steer an aircraft or ship, and a small test of a project or plan before it is done on a large scale. The wider family includes derived forms such as autopilot, co-pilot, copilot, cow-pilot, helipilot.

## Topics
- People & Society
- Aviation & Flight

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