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pilot

Pronunciation: /ˈpaɪ̯.lət/

The English word “pilot” has 20 meanings listed here.

noun

  1. A person who steers a ship, a helmsman.
  2. A person who knows well the depths, shoals, 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. A pilot vehicle.
  6. A person authorised to drive such a vehicle during an escort.
  7. A guide or escort through an unknown or dangerous area.
  8. Something serving as a test or trial.
  9. The heading or excavation of relatively small dimensions, first made in the driving of a larger tunnel.
  10. A tone or signal, usually a single frequency, transmitted over a communications system for control or synchronization purposes.
  11. A person who is in charge of the controls of an aircraft.
  12. 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.
  13. A cowcatcher.
  14. A racing driver.
  15. A pilot light.
  16. One who flies a kite.
  17. A short plug, sometimes made interchangeable, at the end of a counterbore to guide the tool.

adjective

  1. Made or used as a test or demonstration of capability.
  2. Used to control or activate another device.
  3. Being a vehicle to warn other road users of the presence of an oversize vehicle or combination.

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”), hence also Ancient and Modern Greek πηδάλιον (pēdálion, “rudder”).

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