# pilot
## English
### 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”).

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /ˈpaɪlət/
* Audio (US):(file)
* Audio (General Australian):(file)
* Homophone: Pilate
* Rhymes: -aɪlət

### Noun

pilot (plural pilots)
* A person who steers a ship, a helmsman.
** 1697, Virgil, “The First Book of the Æneis”, in John Dryden, transl., The Works of Virgil: Containing His Pastorals, Georgics, and Æneis. […], London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC:They scud before the wind, and sail in open sea. Ahead of all the master pilot steers; And, as he leads, the following navy veers.
* 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.
* A guide book for maritime navigation.
* An instrument for detecting the compass error.
* (Australia, road transport, informal) A pilot vehicle.
* (Australia, road transport) A person authorised to drive such a vehicle during an escort.
* A guide or escort through an unknown or dangerous area.
** 1834, David Crockett, A Narrative of the Life of David Crockett, E. L. Cary and A. Hart, page 43:
    So we mounted our horses, and put out for that town, under the direction of two friendly Creeks we had taken for pilots.
* Something serving as a test or trial.
** 2018, Tsitsi Dangarembga, This Mournable Body, Faber & Faber (2020), page 40:“I agreed with my husband when he said that to do the business properly we must do a pilot first.”
    We would like to run a pilot in your facility before rolling out the program citywide.
** (mining) The heading or excavation of relatively small dimensions, first made in the driving of a larger tunnel.
* (telecommunications, often attributive) A tone or signal, usually a single frequency, transmitted over a communications system for control or synchronization purposes.
* (aviation) A person who is in charge of the controls of an aircraft.
* (television) 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.
** 1994, Quentin Tarantino, Roger Avary, Pulp Fiction, spoken by Jules (Samuel L. Jackson):I think her biggest deal was she starred in a pilot. […] Well, the way they pick TV shows is they make one show. That show's called a pilot. Then they show that one show to the people who pick shows, and on the strength of that one show, they decide if they wanna make more shows.
* (rail transport) A cowcatcher.
* (Europe, motor racing) A racing driver.
* A pilot light.
* One who flies a kite.
** 2003, John P. Glaser, A Father's Collage, page 31:Julia has become quite a good kite pilot. She has learned how to repeatedly buzz her father's head, coming within two feet, and not hitting him.
* A short plug, sometimes made interchangeable, at the end of a counterbore to guide the tool.

#### Derived terms

* automatic pilot
* autopilot
* back-door pilot
* backdoor pilot
* branch pilot
* bush pilot
* busted pilot
* charter pilot
* cock pilot
* copilot
* co-pilot
* cow-pilot
* desk pilot
* drop the pilot
* fighter pilot
* hangar pilot
* longfin pilot whale
* pilot balloon
* pilot beam
* pilot biscuit
* pilot boat
* pilot bread
* pilot burner
* pilot cloth
* pilot coat
* pilot engine
* pilot experiment
* pilot fish (Naucrates ductor)
* pilot flag
* pilot flame
* pilot-hole
* pilot hole
* pilot jacket
* pilot lamp
* pilot light
* pilotman
* pilot nut
* pilot officer
* pilot plant
* pilot project
* pilot scheme
* pilot snake
* pilot valve
* pilot version
* pilot wave
* pilot whale (Globicephala spp.)
* pilot wheel
* rug pilot
* sky pilot
* test pilot
* yard pilot

#### Descendants

* → Dari: پیلوت (pilot)
* → Hindi: पायलट (pāylaṭ)
* → Japanese: パイロット (pairotto)
* → Korean: 파일럿 (pailleot)
* → Northern Kurdish: pîlot

#### Translations
### Adjective

pilot (not comparable)
* Made or used as a test or demonstration of capability.
    a pilot run of the new factory
    The pilot plant showed the need for major process changes.
* Used to control or activate another device.
    a pilot light
* Being a vehicle to warn other road users of the presence of an oversize vehicle/combination.
    a pilot vehicle

#### Translations
### Verb

pilot (third-person singular simple present pilots, present participle piloting, simple past and past participle piloted)
* (transitive) To control (an aircraft or watercraft).
** 1975, John H. Reed, Transportation Safety Board, Safety Information, page 30:I have visited more than half a dozen carrier training facilities, spent over 150 hours on jumpseats, piloted a Lockheed 1011 from MIA to LAX, visited numerous towers, rapcons, and centers, and discussed our commercial Air Transport System with everyone involved.
* (transitive) To guide (a vessel) through coastal waters.
* (transitive) To test or have a preliminary trial of (an idea, a new product, etc.)
* (rail transport, of a locomotive) To serve as the leading locomotive on a double-headed train.
** 1962 October, “Motive Power Miscellany: London Midland Region: Midland Lines”, in Modern Railways, page 279:One of the Midland Lines' Birmingham R.C.W. Type 2 diesels, No. D5403, made the debut of its class in the Manchester area on July 28 when it appeared in the early hours on freight; after four days in the area it left for the south piloting B.R./Sulzer Type 4 diesel No. D88 on the 2.25 Manchester Central-St. Pancras.

#### Translations
### References

* “pilot”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.
* William Dwight Whitney, Benjamin E[li] Smith, editors (1911), “pilot”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., →OCLC.
* ↑ Liddell-Scott entry for πηδόν
* ↑ Liddell-Scott entry for πηδάλιον

### Anagrams

* potli, ptilo-, topil

## Catalan
### Pronunciation

* IPA: (Central, Balearic, Valencia) [piˈlɔt]
* Rhymes: -ɔt

### Etymology 1

From Italian pilota.

#### Adjective

pilot (invariable)
* pilot
    planta pilot ― pilot plant

#### Noun

pilot m or f (plural pilots)
* pilot
* driver

##### Derived terms

* copilot
* pilotar
* pilotí

#### Noun

pilot m (plural pilots)
* light, warning light
* (television) pilot
    Synonym: episodi pilot

### Etymology 2

From pila +‎ -ot.

#### Noun

pilot m (plural pilots)
* pile, heap
* ball, bundle
    pilot de cera ― ball of wax
* (cycling) peloton

### Further reading

* “pilot” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.
* “pilot”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2025
* “pilot” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
* “pilot” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.

## Czech
### Pronunciation

* IPA: [ˈpɪlot]

### Noun

pilot m anim
* pilot (controller of aircraft)

#### Derived terms

* pilotní
* pilotovat

### Further reading

* “pilot”, in Příruční slovník jazyka českého (in Czech), 1935–1957
* “pilot”, in Slovník spisovného jazyka českého (in Czech), 1960–1971, 1989
* “pilot”, in Internetová jazyková příručka (in Czech), 2008–2025

## Danish
### Noun

pilot c (singular definite piloten, plural indefinite piloter)
* pilot

#### Declension
### References

* “pilot” in Den Danske Ordbog

## Indonesian
### Etymology

Internationalism, borrowed from English pilot, 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”).

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /ˈpilɔt̚/
* Rhymes: -lɔt, -ɔt, -t
* Hyphenation: pi‧lot

### Noun

pilot (plural pilot-pilot)
* (aviation) aviator, pilot: A person who is in charge of the controls of an aircraft.
    Synonyms: aviator, juru terbang, penerbang, pilot
    Synonym: juruterbang (Standard Malay)

#### Derived terms

* dipiloti
* memiloti
* pilot karier
* pilot otomatis
* pilot studi

### Further reading

* “pilot” in Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia, Jakarta: Agency for Language Development and Cultivation – Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology of the Republic of Indonesia, 2016.

## Latvian
### Noun

pilot
* vocative singular of pilots

### Verb

pilot
* present conjunctive of pilēt
* (with the particle lai) imperative conjunctive of pilēt

### Participle

pilot (invariable)
* adverbial invariable present active participle of pilēt

## Middle French
### Etymology

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

### Noun

pilot m (plural pilots)
* stake (pole designed to be pushed into the ground)

## Norwegian Bokmål
### Etymology

From French pilote.

### Noun

pilot m (definite singular piloten, indefinite plural piloter, definite plural pilotene)
* pilot (controller of an aircraft)

#### Synonyms

* flyger

#### Derived terms

* autopilot
* pilotprosjekt

### References

* “pilot” in The Bokmål Dictionary.

## Norwegian Nynorsk
### Etymology

From French pilote.

### Noun

pilot m (definite singular piloten, indefinite plural pilotar, definite plural pilotane)
* pilot (controller of an aircraft)

#### Derived terms

* autopilot
* pilotprosjekt

### References

* “pilot” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

## Polish
### Etymology

Borrowed from French pilote.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /ˈpi.lɔt/
* Audio:(file)
* Rhymes: -ilɔt
* Syllabification: pi‧lot

### Noun

pilot m pers
* pilot (controller of aircraft)

#### Declension
### Noun

pilot m inan
* (electronics) remote control
* (film, marketing) trailer (preview of a film)
    Synonyms: teaser, trailer, zwiastun

#### Derived terms

* automatyczny pilot
* autopilot
* bezpilotowy

### Further reading

* pilot in Wielki słownik języka polskiego, Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
* pilot in Polish dictionaries at PWN

## Romanian
### Etymology

Borrowed from French pilote.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /piˈlot/

### Noun

pilot m (plural piloți)
* pilot

#### Related terms

* aeroport
* avion
* a pilota

## Swedish
### Etymology

From French pilote.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /pɪˈluːt/

### Noun

pilot c
* a pilot
    Piloten är den som styr ett flygplan, helikopter, rymdskepp eller dyliktThe pilot is the person who controls an airplane, helicopter, spaceship, or the like

#### Declension
### References

* pilot in Svensk ordbok (SO)
* pilot in Svenska Akademiens ordlista (SAOL)
* pilot in Svenska Akademiens ordbok (SAOB)

## Turkish
### Etymology

Borrowed from French pilote.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /piˈlot/
* Hyphenation: pi‧lot

### Adjective

pilot
* pilot

### Noun

pilot (definite accusative pilotu, plural pilotlar)
* pilot
* race car driver
    Synonym: araba yarışçısı

#### Derived terms

* pilot bölge
* pilot kabini
* pilot köşkü
* pilotluk

#### Related terms

* pilotaj