fuselage

English

Fuselage of a Boeing 737 shown in brown

Etymology

    Borrowed from French fuselage. Ultimately from Latin fūsus (spindle, spinning wheel).

    For the meaning development, compare rocket, ultimately from Proto-Germanic *rukkô (spinning wheel, distaff) (whence also English rock (distaff, the flax or wool on a distaff)).

    Pronunciation

    • IPA(key): /ˈfjuːzəˌlɑːʒ/, /ˈfjuːsəˌlɑːʒ/
    • Audio (US):(file)

    Noun

    fuselage (plural fuselages)

    1. (aeronautical) The main body of an aerospace vehicle; the long central structure of an aircraft to which the wings (or rotors), tail, and engines are attached, and which accommodates crew and cargo. [from 1909]
      • 2024 January 8, Paradise Afshar, Elizabeth Wolfe, Gregory Wallace and Pete Muntean, “New details emerge on piece of Alaska Airlines plane that blew off midflight as investigators probe ‘explosive decompression’”, in CNN[1]:
        Federal officials examining the horrifying midflight blowout of part of an Alaska Airlines aircraft’s fuselage are testing the detached piece for clues on what led up to the plane’s “explosive decompression” after the missing piece was discovered in an Oregon backyard.
      • 2024 March 1, Chris Isidore and Gregory Wallace, “Boeing wants to buy back the company that builds the body of its troubled Max planes”, in CNN[2]:
        Wichita, Kansas-based Spirit AeroSystems makes major parts of several Boeing models, including the fuselages for the 737 Max.

    Derived terms

    Translations

    See also

    • hull (the body or frame of a vessel, such as a ship or plane)

    Further reading

    French

    Etymology

      From fuseler +‎ -age.

      Pronunciation

      • IPA(key): /fyz.laʒ/
      • Audio (France):(file)

      Noun

      fuselage m (plural fuselages)

      1. fuselage

      Descendants

      • Catalan: fuselatge
      • English: fuselage
      • Portuguese: fuselagem
      • Russian: фюзеля́ж (fjuzeljáž)
      • Spanish: fuselaje
      • Ukrainian: фюзеля́ж (fjuzeljáž)

      Further reading