Turbojets

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A type of jet engine designed to produce thrust through the combustion of fuel, often used in aircraft for high-speed travel
2. An aviation engine that generates power by forcing air through a turbine system, resulting in rapid acceleration and speed
3. A propulsion system that operates on the principles of jet propulsion, utilizing high-velocity exhaust to propel vehicles, particularly in aviation

Etymology: A turbojet is, in plain terms, a jet engine built from a turbine that drives a compressor, with the hot exhaust gases pushed out the back to create thrust. Its name is a compound of two parts that come from quite different corners of the language. "Jet" arrived in English through Old French "get" from Latin "iactus," meaning a throw, and it first meant a spurt of liquid or a stream of water before it came to describe a rush of fast-moving gas. "Turbo" is a much newer piece, built from "turbine," which goes back through Latin "turbo," a spinning top, to the Greek "túrbē," meaning a commotion or whirl. Put together, the two halves describe the machine neatly: a whirling turbine feeding a stream of expelled gas. The word is therefore a modern technical compound rather than an old one, and it belongs to the engineering vocabulary of the jet age that followed the Second World War, when such engines came into widespread use in aviation.

Synonyms: jet engines, jet propulsion, turbofan engines