Aerofoil

Part of speech: noun

Pronunciation: /ˈɛəɹ.əˌfɔɪl/

Definitions

1. A device shaped to create aerodynamic lift while interacting with moving air
2. An engineered surface that modifies airflow to generate lift for aircraft or other moving entities
3. A specially contoured surface designed to produce lift by altering airflow when moving through air

Etymology: The word is a plain compound: "aero-", from Greek "aēr" (air, in its genitive "aéros"), joined to "foil", a blade or thin wing-like surface. Its parts are English, but the Greek element came into English through scientific and technical coinage, and "aerofoil" describes the cross-section of a wing, the shape that makes air push it upward as it moves through the air. Greek "aēr" was the word for the lower air, the mist and air close to the earth, as opposed to the upper, bright "aithēr". The ancient Greeks had no notion of a wing as a lift surface, so the word's sense is entirely modern. "Foil" here carries its older meaning of a thin sheet or leaf, the same idea that gives us tin foil and the sword-like "foil" used in fencing.

Synonyms: airfoil, wing, blade, fin, lift surface