pilot

Meaning

Noun

1. A person who steers a ship, a helmsman.
2. A person who knows well the depths and currents of a harbor or coastal area, who is hired by a vessel to help navigate the harbor or coast.
3. A guide book for maritime navigation.
4. An instrument for detecting the compass error.
5. (Australia, informal) A pilot vehicle.
6. (Australia) A person authorised to drive such a vehicle during an escort.
7. A guide or escort through an unknown or dangerous area.
8. Something serving as a test or trial.
9. Something serving as a test or trial.
10. (attributive, often) A tone or signal, usually a single frequency, transmitted over a communications system for control or synchronization purposes.
11. A person who is in charge of the controls of an aircraft.
12. A sample episode of a proposed TV series produced to decide if it should be made or not. If approved, typically the first episode of an actual TV series.
13. A cowcatcher.
14. (Europe) A racing driver.
15. A pilot light.
16. One who flies a kite.
17. A short plug, sometimes made interchangeable, at the end of a counterbore to guide the tool.

Adj

1. (not-comparable) Made or used as a test or demonstration of capability.
2. (not-comparable) Used to control or activate another device.
3. (not-comparable) Being a vehicle to warn other road users of the presence of an oversize vehicle/combination.

Verb

1. (transitive) To control (an aircraft or watercraft).
2. (transitive) To guide (a vessel) through coastal waters.
3. (transitive) To test or have a preliminary trial of (an idea, a new product, television show, etc.)
4. To serve as the leading locomotive on a double-headed train.
5. (transitive) To guide or conduct (a person) somewhere.

Synonyms

aviator

drive

guide

steer

flyer

airman

lead

navigator

helmsman

pilot light

cowcatcher

driver

airplane pilot

experimental

direct

fly

✈️

navigate

instruct

fender

test

aviate

pilot film

steersman

pilot burner

sail

conductor

flier

captain

buffer

archetype

pilot program

original

pilotage

leader

conduct

experiment

escort

assay

draw rein

instruction

directive

boatman

aeronaut

initial

indicative

indication

indicating

direction

indicate

index

Translations

pilote

🧑‍✈️

piloto

🧑‍✈️

Pilot

🧑‍✈️

pilota

🧑‍✈️

piloot

🧑‍✈️

πιλότος

piloto

🧑‍✈️

pilot

🧑‍✈️

piloter

🧑‍✈️

Lotse

🧑‍✈️

loods

🧑‍✈️

pilotar

🧑‍✈️

pilotare

🧑‍✈️

Pronounced as (IPA)

/ˈpaɪlət/

Etymology

From Middle French pilot, pillot, from Italian pilota, piloto, older also pedotta, pedot(t)o (the form in pil- is probably influenced by pileggiare (“to sail, navigate”)); ultimately from unattested Byzantine Greek *πηδώτης (*pēdṓtēs, “helmsman”), from Ancient Greek πηδόν (pēdón, “blade of an oar, oar”), hence also Ancient and Modern Greek πηδάλιον (pēdálion, “rudder”).