Airliners

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A type of large aircraft specifically designed for the commercial transportation of passengers and cargo over long distances
2. Commercial planes that are built for carrying numerous passengers or goods between cities or nations at high altitudes
3. Large-capacity airplanes utilized by airlines to provide scheduled air travel services to various destinations

Etymology: "Airliners" is simply the plural of "airliner", and the plural needs little explanation: it refers to more than one large passenger aircraft. The singular is built from two ordinary English words. "Air" is the familiar Old English-derived noun for the atmosphere we fly through, and "liner" comes from "line" in the sense of a regular, scheduled route, and originally referred to a ship that kept to a fixed service between ports. Its use for the sea-going passenger vessel is the older sense, which is why "liner" in English is tied to ocean travel and the regular timetable. Put together, "airliner" describes an aircraft that carries passengers on a scheduled service, the aerial counterpart of the ocean liner. The compound follows the pattern of earlier transport words, so the sense of regular public travel is built into it from the start.

Synonyms: aircraft, planes, jetliners, commercial aircraft, carriers