Airframe

Part of speech: noun

Pronunciation: /ˈɛɹ.fɹe(ɪ)m/

Definitions

1. The supporting structure of an aircraft that includes its fuselage and wings, while typically excluding engines and other essential systems
2. The main structural framework of an airplane that holds together its various components, excluding the propulsion system
3. The core framework of an aircraft comprising its fuselage and wings but not including the engine or control systems

Etymology: "Airframe" is a plain compound: "air" joined to "frame," a word that goes back to Old English "framian," meaning to be useful or to make progress. The "frame" sense of a skeletal structure developed later, and when it was joined to "air," the result named the skeleton of an aircraft, the framework that holds wings, fuselage and tail together while leaving out the engines and the other propulsion machinery. The word describes a structure, not a whole machine. An airframe is what remains when you strip away the engines, so it is the part engineers design around the loads of flight, from wing bending to the pressure changes of a cabin at altitude.

Synonyms: aircraft structure, fuselage