Parachutes

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A canopy-shaped device used to slow the fall of a person or object through the air by creating drag
2. An apparatus that opens to increase air resistance and reduce the speed of descent when jumping from heights
3. A fabric structure deployed to enable safe landing by decelerating free fall through atmospheric drag

Etymology: The plural "parachutes" is simply the plural of "parachute," so the history belongs to the singular. The word was borrowed from French, where "parachute" combines "para-," meaning protection against, as in "parasol," with "chute," meaning fall. Taken together, it describes something that guards against a fall, which is exactly what the device does when it slows a jumper's descent. The "chute" half is the same French word that gives English "shoot" in the sense of a sloping channel, and it traces back to the Latin "cadere," to fall. The "para-" element is what makes the compound feel like a deliberate piece of design: a parasol shields you from the sun, and a parachute shields you from the ground.

Synonyms: canopies, descenders