Airspace

How to spell airspace

8 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce airspace

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does airspace mean?

1. nounThe portion of the atmosphere above a country or region, especially as controlled for aviation.

Airspace in a sentence

• The airline rerouted its flights to avoid restricted airspace over the conflict zone.

• The pilot requested permission to enter French airspace before crossing the border.

Where does airspace come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This is a modern English compound, formed simply by joining 'air' and 'space'. The first element, 'air', descends from the Latin aer and Greek aer, meaning the lower atmosphere we breathe, and it reached English through Old French in the medieval period. The second element, 'space', comes from the Latin spatium, meaning an extent, room, or distance, again entering English by way of Old French. The combined term emerged in the early twentieth century alongside the rise of aviation, when nations needed a word for the volume of sky above their territory that they could legally control. Because both parts are familiar everyday words, the only spelling trap is remembering that it is written solid, as one word, rather than as two words or hyphenated.

How the word is built

• air (the atmosphere)
• space (extent, region); a closed compound