Paramotoring

Part of speech: noun, verb

Definitions

1. Flying through the air under a parachute canopy while a small motor and propeller strapped to the back provide the thrust
2. The recreational sport of taking off and soaring in a lightweight powered parachute carried by a motor worn on the body
3. Piloting a motorised parachute craft that is launched on foot and steered by harness, with a propeller mounted behind the pilot

Etymology: Paramotoring is the sport of flying under a powered parachute-style wing, and its name is a plain compound built in modern English. The first part, "para-", is short for "paramotor" and comes from "parachute," the same "para-" that appears in words like "paratrooper." The source of "para-" is the Ancient Greek preposition "para," meaning "beside" or "alongside," which English adopted as a combining element, so the word carries the idea of something flying close beside a body rather than anything about a parachute's pack in the Greek sense. The second part, "motor," reaches English through Latin "motor," "mover," from "moveō," "to move," and entered English through Middle English "motour" before taking its modern sense of an engine. The paramotor itself is a small engine strapped to a pilot's back that drives a propeller, so the whole word joins a parachute-style wing with an engine. Its "-ing" ending turns the noun "paramotor" into a verb and a noun for the activity, and "paramotoring" is a modern formation rather than an old term.

Synonyms: powered paragliding