Taxiing

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. The process in which an airplane moves on the runway to prepare for flight or return to the terminal is described as ground movement
2. The act of an aircraft steering and rolling on the runway before takeoff or after landing
3. When an airplane maneuvers on the ground to reach the runway or the parking area without flying

Etymology: The verb "taxiing" is simply "taxi" with the "-ing" ending, so its history is really the history of "taxi" itself. That word began as a shortening of "taximeter cab," the cab fitted with an automatic meter that recorded distance and fare. The meter's name came from German "Taxameter," formed from Medieval Latin "taxa," meaning "tax" or "charge," which also gives English a distant cousin in "tax" and "task." The aviation sense is the more surprising twist. Pilots first used "taxi" as slang for the small training aircraft that rolled around the airfield practicing ground operations, and these machines were said to drive about the field the way a taxicab drives through a city. The jargon then spread to every aircraft moving on the ground, so a plane that was once only a trainer's nickname now describes any airliner gliding toward the runway.

Synonyms: rolling, maneuvering, taxi