Aerostructures

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. The elements that form the framework and shape of an aircraft, providing support and rigidity
2. Components making up the physical skeleton of airplanes or other flying machines, ensuring strength and stability
3. The assembled parts that constitute the main structural framework of aircraft, designed to withstand aerodynamic forces

Etymology: The plural "aerostructures" is simply the plural of "aerostructure," so the story is really the story of its two parts. "Aero-" comes from Ancient Greek "āḗr" (ἀήρ), meaning air or mist, which in its genitive form "aéros" gave the combining shape that English borrowed. The Greek word traces back to a very old root meaning roughly "to blow," so the air it names was, at its deepest level, the moving stuff of wind. The second part, "structure," comes from Latin "structura," a noun built from "struere," to pile up or construct, and it reached English as a word for something built or arranged. Joined together, "aero-" and "structure" describe the skeleton of a flying machine: the frame, spars and ribs that give an aircraft its shape and stiffness. The compound is a modern technical formation, built from classical parts to name a thing the ancient Greeks and Romans could not have imagined.