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atterrir

land, touch down

verb ah-teh-REER Less Common

Origin: à + terre (to + ground)

Usage Note

Atterrir is the standard verb for an aircraft landing (l'avion atterrit à Paris). Informally it also means to end up somewhere unexpectedly (j'ai atterri dans un quartier bizarre = I ended up in a strange neighbourhood). The opposite is décoller (to take off). The noun is l'atterrissage (landing).

Examples

"L'avion a atterri avec vingt minutes de retard."

Natural Translation

The plane landed twenty minutes late.

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