- aeroplane
- 1866, from Fr. aéroplane (1855), from Gk. aero- "air" + stem of Fr. planer "to soar," from L. planus "level, flat" (see plane (1)). Originally in ref. to surfaces (such as the protective shell casings of beetles' wings); meaning "heavier than air flying machine" first attested 1873, probably an independent Eng. coinage (see airplane).
- plane (2)
- 1908, short for aeroplane (see airplane).
- airplane
- 1907, from air (1) + plane; though the original references are British, the word caught on in Amer.Eng., where it largely superseded earlier aeroplane (1873 in this sense and still common in British Eng.; q.v.). Aircraft "airplane" also is also from 1907; airship is 1888, from Ger. Luftschiff "motor-driver dirigible."
- gremlin
- "small imaginary creature blamed for mechanical failures," oral use in R.A.F. aviators' slang from Malta, Middle East and India said to date to 1923. First printed use perhaps in poem in journal "Aeroplane" April 10, 1929; certainly in use by 1941, and popularized in World War II and picked up by Americans (e.g. "New York Times" Magazine April 11, 1943). Possibly from a dial. survival of O.E. gremman "to anger, vex" + -lin of goblin; or from Ir. gruaimin "bad-tempered little fellow." Surfer slang for "young surfer, beach trouble-maker" is from 1961.