pilot.
A person who steers a ship, a helmsman.
Meaning & usage
A person who steers a ship, a helmsman.
A person who knows well the depths, shoals, and currents of a harbor or coastal area, who is hired by a vessel to help navigate the harbor or coast.
A guide book for maritime navigation.
An instrument for detecting the compass error.
A pilot vehicle.
A person authorised to drive such a vehicle during an escort.
A guide or escort through an unknown or dangerous area.
Something serving as a test or trial.
We would like to run a pilot in your facility before rolling out the program citywide.
Something serving as a test or trial. The heading or excavation of relatively small dimensions, first made in the driving of a larger tunnel.
A tone or signal, usually a single frequency, transmitted over a communications system for control or synchronization purposes.
A person who is in charge of the controls of an aircraft.
A sample episode of a proposed TV series produced to decide if it should be made or not. If approved, typically the first episode of an actual TV series.
A cowcatcher.
A racing driver.
A pilot light.
One who flies a kite.
A short plug, sometimes made interchangeable, at the end of a counterbore to guide the tool.
Where this word comes from
From Middle French pilot, pillot, from Italian pilota, piloto, older also pedotta, pedot(t)o (the form in pil- is probably influenced by pileggiare (“to sail, navigate”)); ultimately from unattested Byzantine Greek *πηδώτης (*pēdṓtēs, “helmsman”), from Ancient Greek πηδόν (pēdón, “blade of an oar, oar”), hence also Ancient and Modern Greek πηδάλιον (pēdálion, “rudder”).
Made or used as a test or demonstration of capability.
The pilot plant showed the need for major process changes.
Used to control or activate another device.
Being a vehicle to warn other road users of the presence of an oversize vehicle or combination.
Where this word comes from
From Middle French pilot, pillot, from Italian pilota, piloto, older also pedotta, pedot(t)o (the form in pil- is probably influenced by pileggiare (“to sail, navigate”)); ultimately from unattested Byzantine Greek *πηδώτης (*pēdṓtēs, “helmsman”), from Ancient Greek πηδόν (pēdón, “blade of an oar, oar”), hence also Ancient and Modern Greek πηδάλιον (pēdálion, “rudder”).
To control (an aircraft or watercraft).
To guide (a vessel) through coastal waters.
To test or have a preliminary trial of (an idea, a new product, television show, etc.)
To serve as the leading locomotive on a double-headed train.
To guide or conduct (a person) somewhere.
Where this word comes from
From Middle French pilot, pillot, from Italian pilota, piloto, older also pedotta, pedot(t)o (the form in pil- is probably influenced by pileggiare (“to sail, navigate”)); ultimately from unattested Byzantine Greek *πηδώτης (*pēdṓtēs, “helmsman”), from Ancient Greek πηδόν (pēdón, “blade of an oar, oar”), hence also Ancient and Modern Greek πηδάλιον (pēdálion, “rudder”).
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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.
Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.