avionics

Etymology

It is a blend from English aviation + electronics,^{[2][3][4][5][6][7][8]} made of the beginning of the first word and the end of the second.^[3][9][10] Aviation is from French aviation, a noun formed on the stem of Latin avis (“bird”),^[4] and electronics is from electronic.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The application of electronics to aviation, first recorded in Aviation Week on 17 October 1949.^[2][4][5]

Semantic evolution

The word first named a branch of engineering and was construed as singular.^[2][9] The plural use, for the electronic equipment itself, is recorded in the OED from 1969,^[2] although the 1989 edition of the OED dated both senses to 1949.^[11] The field soon covered spacecraft as well as aircraft.^[2][7]

Timeline

• 1949 – the application of electronics to aeronautics, as a singular noun.^[2][4][5]
• 1969 – as a plural, the electronic equipment of an aircraft or spacecraft.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. The science and technology of electronics applied to aeronautics and astronautics, treated as singular.^[7][2][5]
2. The electronic devices and systems of an aircraft or spacecraft, treated as plural: The plane's avionics were upgraded last spring.^[7][2][5]

Word family

• avionic

Related words

• aviation
• electronics
• electronic

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
4. ^ a b c d e Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ a b c d e Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
6. ^ Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
7. ^ a b c d Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
8. ^ The Chambers Dictionary (2014), 13th ed., Edinburgh: Chambers
9. ^ a b Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
10. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
11. ^ Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press