25. contrail

hey Siri, play “Contrail” by MoonMoon on Spotify

~Livy, 23 March 2022

definition

contrail [/ˈkäntrāl/]

noun. the white streak trailing behind a traveling airplane

handwritten

extended definition

• a trail/stream of condensed water left behind by an aircraft or rocket at high altitude

etymology

from: 1942 con(densation) + trail → 1945 “white line of ice crystals behind an airplane in motion”

• condensation — Latin: condensare “to make dense” → Late Latin noun condensatio → c. 1600 “action/state of making or becoming more dense,” 1610s “conversion of gas to liquid state”
• trail —Latin: tragula “dragnet; javelin through by a strap” (probably related to trahere “to drag, pull”) → Vulgar Latin tragulare “to drag” → Old French trailler “to tow; pick up the sent of a quarry” → c. 1300 verb “to hang and flow behind (of clothing e.g. robe, gown)” → early 14c. noun “the trailing part of a piece of clothing e.g. a robe, gown”

references

• definitions from Oxford Languages via Google’s English Dictionary
• etymology (word origin information) from Online Etymology Dictionary (“etymonline”)
• see also: my favorite Latin dictionary, William Whitaker’s Words

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