Aerodromes

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A facility specifically designed for aircraft to take off, land, and be serviced while providing space for various aviation-related activities and structures
2. An area allocated for the operation of aircraft, featuring runways and support buildings to facilitate aviation functions
3. A designated site equipped for aircraft arrival, departure, and maintenance along with necessary buildings

Etymology: Samuel Langley, the American aviation pioneer, first gave "aerodrome" its meaning of a flying machine in 1897, when he used the Greek-derived term for his experimental aircraft. The word's origin lies in Ancient Greek "aerodrómos," meaning "traversing the air," built from "aéros" (air) and "drómos" (running or course). That flying-machine sense has since died out, and the word now means a site where aircraft take off, land and are serviced. The current sense came from a different path. English speakers formed the "-drome" ending by analogy with "hippodrome," the Greek-derived word for a horse racecourse, so "aerodrome" came to mean an airfield in the same way a hippodrome is a racing ground. The plural "aerodromes" is simply the regular form of this noun, referring to several such airfields.

Synonyms: airports, airstrips, landing fields, airfields, flight facilities