pilot

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]

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈpaɪlət/

• Audio (US)

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• Audio (AU)

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• Rhymes: -aɪlət

pilot (plural pilots)

1. A person who steers a ship, a helmsman.
   • 1697, John Dryden, The Works of Virgil, The Aeneid Book One

     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.

2. 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.
3. A guide book for maritime navigation.
4. An instrument for detecting the compass error.
5. (Australia, road transport, informal) A pilot vehicle.
6. (Australia, road transport) A person authorised to drive such a vehicle during an escort.
7. 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.

8. Something serving as a test or trial.

   We would like to run a pilot in your facility before rolling out the program citywide.

   1. (mining) The heading or excavation of relatively small dimensions, first made in the driving of a larger tunnel.
9. (aviation) A person who is in charge of the controls of an aircraft.
10. (television) A sample episode of a proposed TV series produced to decide if it should be made or not; the first episode of an actual TV show.
11. (rail transport) A cowcatcher.
12. A pilot light.
13. 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.

14. A short plug, sometimes made interchangeable, at the end of a counterbore to guide the tool.

pilot (not comparable)

1. 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.

2. Used to control or activate another device.

   a pilot light

3. Being a vehicle to warn other road users of the presence of an oversize vehicle/combination.

   a pilot vehicle

pilot (third-person singular simple present pilots, present participle piloting, simple past and past participle piloted)

1. (transitive) To control (an aircraft or watercraft).
2. (transitive) To guide (a vessel) through coastal waters.
3. (transitive) To test or have a preliminary trial of (an idea, a new product, etc.)

• pilot at OneLook Dictionary Search
• pilot in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.

• ptilo-

pilot (feminine pilota, masculine plural pilots, feminine plural pilotes)

1. pilot

pilot m (plural pilots)

1. pilot
2. driver
3. light, warning light

• copilot

• “pilot” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.
• “pilot” in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana.
• “pilot” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
• “pilot” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.

pilot m

1. pilot (controller of aircraft)

• pilotní
• pilotovat

• pilot in Příruční slovník jazyka českého, 1935–1957
• pilot in Slovník spisovného jazyka českého, 1960–1971, 1989

pilot c (singular definite piloten, plural indefinite piloter)

1. pilot

• “pilot” in Den Danske Ordbog

pilot

1. vocative singular form of pilots

pilot

1. present conjunctive form of pilēt
2. (with the particle lai) imperative conjunctive form of pilēt

pilot (invariable)

1. adverbial present active participle of pilēt (invariable form)

pilot m (plural pilots)

1. stake (pole designed to be pushed into the ground)

From French pilote

pilot m (definite singular piloten, indefinite plural piloter, definite plural pilotene)

1. pilot (controller of an aircraft)

• flyger

• autopilot
• pilotprosjekt

• “pilot” in The Bokmål Dictionary.

From French pilote

pilot m (definite singular piloten, indefinite plural pilotar, definite plural pilotane)

1. pilot (controller of an aircraft)

• autopilot
• pilotprosjekt

• “pilot” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

• IPA^(key): /ˈpʲi.lɔt/

• Audio

  (file)

pilot m pers

1. pilot (controller of aircraft)

pilot m inan

1. remote control

Borrowed from French pilote.

• IPA^(key): /piˈlot/

pilot m (plural piloți)

1. pilot

• aeroport
• avion
• a pilota