pilot
From Wiktionary, the free dictionary
See also: Pilot
Etymology
From Middle French pilot, pillot, from Italian pilota, piloto, older also pedotta, pedot(t)o (the form in pil- is probably influenced by pileggiare (“to sail, navigate”)); ultimately from unattested Byzantine Greek *πηδώτης (*pēdṓtēs, “helmsman”), from Ancient Greek πηδόν (pēdón, “blade of an oar, oar”),[1] hence also Ancient and Modern Greek πηδάλιον (pēdálion, “rudder”).[2]
Pronunciation
Noun
pilot (plural pilots)
- A person who steers a ship, a helmsman.
- 1697, Virgil, “The First Book of the Æneis”, in John Dryden, transl., The Works of Virgil: Containing His Pastorals, Georgics, and Æneis. […], London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC:
- They scud before the wind, and sail in open sea.
Ahead of all the master pilot steers;
And, as he leads, the following navy veers.
- A person who knows well the depths and currents of a harbor or coastal area, who is hired by a vessel to help navigate the harbor or coast.
- A guide book for maritime navigation.
- An instrument for detecting the compass error.
- (Australia, road transport, informal) A pilot vehicle.
- (Australia, road transport) A person authorised to drive such a vehicle during an escort.
- A guide or escort through an unknown or dangerous area.
- 1834, David Crockett, A Narrative of the Life of David Crockett, E. L. Cary and A. Hart, page 43:
- So we mounted our horses, and put out for that town, under the direction of two friendly Creeks we had taken for pilots.
- 1834, David Crockett, A Narrative of the Life of David Crockett, E. L. Cary and A. Hart, page 43:
- Something serving as a test or trial.
- 2018, Tsitsi Dangarembga, This Mournable Body, Faber & Faber (2020), page 40:
- “I agreed with my husband when he said that to do the business properly we must do a pilot first.”
- We would like to run a pilot in your facility before rolling out the program citywide.
- (mining) The heading or excavation of relatively small dimensions, first made in the driving of a larger tunnel.
- (aviation) A person who is in charge of the controls of an aircraft.
- (television) A sample episode of a proposed TV series produced to decide if it should be made or not. If approved, typically the first episode of an actual TV series.
- 1994, Quentin Tarantino, Roger Avary, Pulp Fiction, spoken by Jules (Samuel L. Jackson):
- I think her biggest deal was she starred in a pilot. […] Well, the way they pick TV shows is they make one show. That show's called a pilot. Then they show that one show to the people who pick shows, and on the strength of that one show, they decide if they wanna make more shows.
- (rail transport) A cowcatcher.
- (Europe, motor racing) A racing driver.
- A pilot light.
- One who flies a kite.
- 2003, John P. Glaser, A Father's Collage, page 31:
- Julia has become quite a good kite pilot. She has learned how to repeatedly buzz her father's head, coming within two feet, and not hitting him.
- A short plug, sometimes made interchangeable, at the end of a counterbore to guide the tool.
Derived terms
Terms derived from pilot (noun and adjective)
- automatic pilot
- autopilot
- back-door pilot
- backdoor pilot
- branch pilot
- bush pilot
- busted pilot
- charter pilot
- cock pilot
- copilot
- co-pilot
- cow-pilot
- desk pilot
- fighter pilot
- hangar pilot
- longfin pilot whale
- pilot balloon
- pilot beam
- pilot biscuit
- pilot boat
- pilot bread
- pilot burner
- pilot cloth
- pilot coat
- pilot engine
- pilot experiment
- pilot fish (Naucrates ductor)
- pilot flag
- pilot flame
- pilot hole
- pilot-hole
- pilot jacket
- pilot lamp
- pilot light
- pilotman
- pilot nut
- pilot officer
- pilot plant
- pilot project
- pilot scheme
- pilot snake
- pilot valve
- pilot version
- pilot wave
- pilot whale (Globicephala spp.)
- pilot wheel
- rug pilot
- sky pilot
- test pilot
- yard pilot
Descendants
Translations
controller of aircraft
|
steerer
|
sample TV series episode
|
Adjective
pilot (not comparable)
- Made or used as a test or demonstration of capability.
- a pilot run of the new factory
- The pilot plant showed the need for major process changes.
- Used to control or activate another device.
- a pilot light
- Being a vehicle to warn other road users of the presence of an oversize vehicle/combination.
- a pilot vehicle
Translations
made or used as a test
|
Verb
pilot (third-person singular simple present pilots, present participle piloting, simple past and past participle piloted)
- (transitive) To control (an aircraft or watercraft).
- (transitive) To guide (a vessel) through coastal waters.
- (transitive) To test or have a preliminary trial of (an idea, a new product, etc.)
- (rail transport, of a locomotive) To serve as the leading locomotive on a double-headed train.
- 1962 October, “Motive Power Miscellany: London Midland Region: Midland Lines”, in Modern Railways, page 279:
- One of the Midland Lines' Birmingham R.C.W. Type 2 diesels, No. D5403, made the debut of its class in the Manchester area on July 28 when it appeared in the early hours on freight; after four days in the area it left for the south piloting B.R./Sulzer Type 4 diesel No. D88 on the 2.25 Manchester Central-St. Pancras.
Translations
to control an aircraft or watercraft
|
to guide through coastal waters
|
References
- “pilot”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.
- “pilot”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.
Anagrams
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