What does aviation mean?
Word: Aviation
Part of Speech: Noun
Meaning: Aviation means everything to do with flying aircraft, from designing and building them to running airlines and airports.
Synonyms: flying
How do you spell aviation?
Syllables: a - vi - a - tion
Tricky part: Said quickly, the word can lose a beat and come out as avation. Sound all four beats, and remember that the letter after the v is an i.
Watch out for: avation, aveation
Memory tip: Birds were flying long before planes. Latin avis means bird, and its avi- opens aviation just as it opens aviary, the big cage birds fly about in.
Aviation in a sentence
Example 1: Thick fog can bring aviation to a standstill for a whole morning.
Example 2: Amelia Earhart is one of the best-known names in the history of aviation.
Example 3: The college runs a course in aviation for students who hope to fly cargo planes one day.
Fun Fact
The French writer Gabriel de La Landelle is usually credited with coining the word in 1863, forty years before the Wright brothers made their first powered flight.
Practise the CREST Way
Word Cookie
Find the misspelt word in the sentence:
Meera's grandfather spent forty years in aviasion, first fixing engines and later training the ground crews who guide planes safely to their stands.
a) engines
b) grandfather
c) crews
d) aviasion
Show answer
d) aviasion. The ending that sounds like shun is spelt -tion here, as in station and nation.
Spell-o-Spell
Three of these words are spelt correctly. Choose the meaning of the misspelt one:
1. altitude 2. aerodynamic 3. turbulance 4. aviation
a) shaped so that air flows smoothly round it
b) the field that covers aircraft, pilots and air travel
c) the height of something above sea level
d) rough, uneven movement of air or water
Show answer
d) rough, uneven movement of air or water. Turbulence ends in -ence, like silence, so turbulance is the misspelt one.
Word Connection
Choose the synonym of the word aviation as used in the sentence:
The aviation shelf in the school library holds books on gliders, jets and helicopters.
a) aeronautics
b) navigation
c) astronomy
d) geology
Show answer
a) aeronautics. Books about gliders and jets belong to the science of flight, which is aeronautics.
Multiple Choice Questions
1. A student who wants a career in aviation is most likely to apply to
a) a flight training school
b) a hotel management course
c) a marine biology course
d) a railway design college
Show answer
a) a flight training school
2. Which news headline is about aviation?
a) Rail line to reopen after repairs
b) Port deepened to take bigger ships
c) City bus fares to rise next month
d) Airline adds ten new routes to Asia
Show answer
d) Airline adds ten new routes to Asia
