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aviateur

aviator, pilot

noun ah-vyah-TUR Rare

Origin: Latin avis (bird)

Usage Note

Aviateur refers historically to early aircraft pilots and is still used in formal or literary contexts; pilote is the everyday word for a pilot. The feminine form is aviatrice, made famous by pioneering figures like Hélène Boucher. The related adjective aérien (aerial) shares the same Latin root.

Examples

"Le jeune aviateur a traversé l'Atlantique."

Natural Translation

The young aviator crossed the Atlantic.

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