pilot

英文詞源

pilot

pilot: [16] Pilot comes ultimately from a Greek word for ‘oar’, pēdón, which went back to the same Indo-European base as produced English foot. Its plural, pēdá, was used for ‘rudder’, and from this was derived medieval Greek *pēdótēs ‘rudder, helmsman’. This in turn was borrowed into medieval Latin as pedota, which was later altered to pilotus – whence, via French, English pilot.

For most of its career in English, of course, the word has been used in connection with the steering of ships, but in the middle of the 19th century it began to be applied to the steering of balloons, and the first record of its modern use for ‘flier of an aeroplane’ comes from 1907.
=> foot

pilot (n.)

1510s, "one who steers a ship," from Middle French pillote (16c.), from Italian piloto, supposed to be an alteration of Old Italian pedoto, which usually is said to be from Medieval Greek *pedotes "rudder, helmsman," from Greek pedon "steering oar," related to pous (genitive podos) "foot," from PIE root *ped- (1) "a foot" (see foot (n.)). Change of -d- to -l- in Latin ("Sabine -l-") parallels that in odor/olfactory; see lachrymose.

Sense extended 1848 to "one who controls a balloon," and 1907 to "one who flies an airplane." As an adjective, 1788 as "pertaining to a pilot;" from 1928 as "serving as a prototype." Thus the noun pilot meaning "pilot episode" (etc.), attested from 1962. Pilot light is from 1890.

pilot (v.)

1640s, "to guide, lead;" 1690s, "to conduct as a pilot," from pilot (n.) or from French piloter. Related: Piloted; piloting.