wingspan

Etymology

It is a compound from English wing + span, also written with a hyphen,^{[2][3][4][5][1]} the second element being the noun for the distance between two points.^[2][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The distance between the tips of a pair of wings: Etymonline dates the word to 1894.^[2] Dictionary.com dates it to 1915–20,^[4] and Merriam-Webster's Collegiate to about 1917.^[6]

Semantic evolution

The word applies equally to birds, insects and aircraft.^[7][1][6] Merriam-Webster Unabridged defines it for an aeroplane as the length between the outermost wing tips, whatever lies between them,^[3] and the OED records the simple noun span for an aircraft's width from wing tip to wing tip from 1909.^[8] Merriam-Webster gives wingspread, recorded from 1897, as a synonym,^[6][3] and Collins and Chambers list the two words together.^[7][9] Wiktionary also records wingspan for a person's arm span.^[1]

Timeline

• 1894 – the distance between the tips of a pair of wings.^[2] Merriam-Webster's Collegiate dates it to about 1917.^[6]

Meanings

Noun

1. The distance from the tip of one wing to the tip of the other, of a bird, insect or aircraft: The eagle's wingspan was wider than the hiker was tall.^{[7][10][6][3]}
2. A person's arm span.^[1]

Related words

• wing
• span
• wingspread
• wingtip

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ a b c d 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 e Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
7. ^ a b c Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
8. ^ Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
9. ^ The Chambers Dictionary (2008), 11th ed., Edinburgh: Chambers Harrap
10. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin