Aeronautically

Part of speech: adverb

Definitions

1. In a way that relates to the art and science of air travel and vehicle navigation within the Earth's atmosphere
2. In a fashion that is concerned with the technologies and methodologies pertinent to aviation and aerodynamics
3. In a manner that pertains to the principles and practices of flying and the technical aspects of operating aircraft within the atmosphere

Etymology: "Aeronautically" is simply "aeronautical" with the adverbial ending "-ly" attached. The adjective is built from Greek roots: "aēr" meaning air, and "nautikos," from "nautēs," a sailor, which itself comes from "naus," a ship. Put together, the ancestor of the word is a compound meaning something like "air-sailing," a neat image of ships of the sky before anyone had built an aircraft. The "-ly" ending is one of English's most productive suffixes. It comes from Old English "-līċe," which was itself an ending meaning "in the manner of" or "like," and it has been attached to adjectives for well over a thousand years. Adding it to "aeronautical" turns the adjective into an adverb describing how something is done, so "aeronautically" means in a way relating to the principles and practice of flight.