Word: flight Part of Speech: noun Etymology: Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *plew- Proto-Indo-European *plewk- Proto-Indo-European *-eti Proto-Indo-European *pléwketi Proto-Germanic *fleuganą Proto-West Germanic *fleugan Proto-Indo-European *-tis Proto-Germanic *-þiz Proto-West Germanic *-þi Proto-West Germanic *fluhti Old English flyht Middle English flight English flight From Middle English flight, from Old English flyht (“flight”), from Proto-West Germanic *fluhti (“flight”), derived from *fleuganą (“to fly”), from Proto-Indo-European *plewk- (“to fly”), enlargement of *plew- (“flow”). Analyzable as fly + -t (variant of -th). Cognate with West Frisian flecht (“flight”), Dutch vlucht (“flight”), German Flucht (“flight”) (etymology 2). Pronunciation: /ˈflaɪ̯t/, [ˈflaɪ̯t], /ˈflɐɪ̯t/, [ˈflɐɪ̯t], /ˈflʌɪ̯t/ 1. The act of flying. Labels: countable, uncountable Example: Most birds are capable of flight. 2. An instance of flying. Labels: countable, uncountable Example: The migrating birds' flight took them to Africa. 3. A collective term for doves or swallows. Labels: collective, countable, uncountable Example: a flight of swallows 4. A trip made by an aircraft, particularly one between two cities or countries, which is often planned or reserved in advance. Labels: countable, uncountable Example: The flight to Paris leaves at 7 o'clock tonight. Example: Where is the departure gate for flight 747? / Go straight down and to the right. 5. A series of stairs between landings. Labels: countable, uncountable Example: Limerick terminus has changed but little since its opening, and travellers still ascend the same flight of steps from the forecourt to enter the handsome two-storey stone building, which contains the offices and a recently-modernised refreshment room. Example: She crept up the stairs [...] On she went, across the landing, from which sprang the tall window, and up the next flight until she reached the top. 6. A group of canal locks with a short distance between them Labels: countable, uncountable 7. A floor which is reached by stairs or escalators. Labels: countable, uncountable Example: How many flights is it up? 8. The feathers on an arrow or dart used to help it follow an even path. Labels: countable, uncountable Example: Baſſ. In my ſchoole dayes, when I had loſt one ſhaft / I ſhot his fellow of the ſelfeſame flight / The ſelfeſame way, with more aduiſed watch / To finde the other forth, and by aduenturing both, / I oft found both. I vrge this child-hoode proofe, […] 9. A paper airplane. Labels: countable, uncountable 10. The movement of a spinning ball through the air, with its speed, trajectory and drift. Labels: countable, uncountable 11. The ballistic trajectory of an arrow or other projectile. Labels: countable, uncountable 12. An aerodynamic surface designed to guide such a projectile's trajectory. Labels: countable, uncountable 13. An air force unit. Labels: countable, uncountable 14. A numbered subclass of a given class of warship, denoting incremental modernizations to the original design. Labels: US, countable, uncountable 15. Several sample glasses of a specific wine varietal or other beverage. The pours are smaller than a full glass and the flight will generally include three to five different samples. Labels: countable, uncountable 16. A comparable sample of beers or other drinks. Labels: broadly, countable, uncountable 17. The shaped material forming the thread of a screw. Labels: countable, uncountable 18. An episode of imaginative thinking or dreaming. Labels: countable, uncountable Example: a flight of fancy; a flight of the imagination 19. An advertising campaign of fixed length. Labels: countable, uncountable Example: After the first eight-week flight of advertising, the tracking research showed that consumers' predisposition to use Citi as a financial services provider jumped 50 percent.