flight

pronunciation

How to pronounce flight in British English: UK [flaɪt] word uk audio image

How to pronounce flight in American English: US [flaɪt] word us audio image

Noun:

a formation of aircraft in flight
an instance of traveling by air
a stairway (set of steps) between one floor or landing and the next
the act of escaping physically
an air force unit smaller than a squadron
passing above and beyond ordinary bounds
the path followed by an object moving through space
a flock of flying birds
a scheduled trip by plane between designated airports
Verb:

shoot a bird in flight
fly in a flock
decorate with feathers

Word Origin

flight: flight: [OE] English has two distinct, etymologically unrelated words flight. One, ‘flying’, comes from a prehistoric West Germanic *flukhtiz, a derivative of the same base as produced fly (the sense ‘series of stairs’, which developed in the 18th century, was perhaps modelled on French volée d’escalier, literally ‘flight of stairs’). The other, ‘escape’, comes from a hypothetical Old English *flyht, never actually recorded, which goes back ultimately to the same Germanic base as produced flee.=> flee, fly

flight (n.1): "act of flying," Old English flyht "a flying, act or power of flying," from Proto-Germanic *flukhtiz (cognates: Dutch vlucht "flight of birds," Old Norse flugr, Old High German flug, German Flug "flight"), from Proto-Germanic *flug-ti-, from PIE *pluk-, from root *pleu- "to flow" (see fly (v.1)). Spelling altered late 14c. from Middle English fliht (see fight (v.)). Sense of "swift motion" is from mid-13c.. Meaning "an instance of flight" is 1785, originally of ballooning. Sense of "a number of things passing through the air together" is from mid-13c. Meaning "series of stairs between landings" is from 1703. Figuratively, "an excursion" of fancy, imagination, etc., from 1660s. Flight-path is from 1908; flight-test (v.) from 1919; flight-simulator from 1947 (originally in rocketry); flight-attendant from 1946.

flight (n.2): "act of fleeing," c. 1200, flihht, not found in Old English, but presumed to have existed and cognate with Old Saxon fluht, Old Frisian flecht "act of fleeing," Dutch vlucht, Old High German fluht, German Flucht, Old Norse flotti, Gothic þlauhs, from Proto-Germanic *flug-ti- (see flight (n.1)). To put (someone or something) to flight "rout, defeat" is from late 14c., the earlier verb form do o' flight (early 13c.).