airstrip

Etymology

It is a compound from English air + strip,^[2][3][4][5] with the first element in the sense "aircraft" and the second in the sense of a long narrow piece of land.^[2][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

A strip of land prepared for aircraft to take off and land, often for temporary use: 1911, in the Lethbridge Daily Herald of Alberta.^[6][3] Etymonline and Merriam-Webster's Collegiate date the word to 1942,^[2][7] and Dictionary.com to 1940–45.^[4]

Semantic evolution

The word has kept its first meaning; dictionaries stress that an airstrip is often temporary,^[6] or lacks the facilities of an air base or airport, such as taxiways and hangars.^[3][2][7] Collins treats it as a synonym of runway and landing strip.^[8]

Timeline

• 1911 – a strip of land prepared for aircraft to take off and land.^[6][3] Etymonline dates the word to 1942.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. A strip of ground cleared for aircraft to take off and land, often temporary and without the facilities of an airport; a landing strip.^[8][3][6][9]

Related words

• air
• strip
• airfield
• airport
• landing strip

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ a b c d e Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
4. ^ a b c Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
5. ^ Gove, Philip Babcock, ed. (1961), Webster's Third New International Dictionary of the English Language, Unabridged, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam
6. ^ a b c d Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
7. ^ a b Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
8. ^ a b Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
9. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin