What is the origin of the word ‘helicopter’?

Posted on September 22, 2024September 22, 2024 by Celladora

Heli + copter = helicopter?

Have you ever wondered where the word ‘helicopter’ comes from? I always thought it originated from the pairing of the words ‘heli’ and ‘copter’. After all, there are words like ‘heli-pad’ and ‘copter’ (or a ‘chopper’) that seem to support that interpretation. Turns out, that’s not true at all! Language has a funny way of taking a word and morphing it into something else.

After some brief googling, I quickly found out that the true origin of the word ‘helicopter’ is actually from the ancient Greek words ‘helico’ (or ‘helix’, meaning ‘spiral’) and ‘pter’ (or ‘pteron’, meaning ‘wing’, or ‘feather’). So, it refers to something that has spiral wings. Although the word is much newer, the image of spiral wings brings to mind the design invented by Leonardo da Vinci in the 1480s in Italy. Da Vinci’s original drawing depicts an aerial machine with a screw on top, similar to a modern helicopter, and a spiral rotor akin to a water screw, designed to push against the air. Interestingly, while the word ‘helicopter’ remains more or less unchanged across most Western languages, the German equivalent is ‘der Hubschrauber’, which literally translates to a ‘lifting screw’.

Leonardo da Vinci helicopter drawing — Leonardo da Vinci’s *aerial screw* (c. 1489), suggestive of a helicopter, from the Codex Atlanticus. Image via Wikimedia Commons.

‘Helicopter’ as a separate term was first coined in 1861 by the French inventor Gustave Ponton d’Amécourt to describe his early flying machine designs. Although many attempts to achieve a working prototype ensued in the following decades, it wasn’t until the Second World War that helicopters similar to the ones we use today were first put into larger use.

Similar words, similar origins?

The Greek root for wing (‘pter’, ‘pteron’) observed in the word ‘helicopter’ can also be noticed in other words that refer to winged things. For instance, consider the word ‘pterodactyl’. This prehistoric flying reptile (technically not a dinosaur but co-existed with them) is literally called ‘winged finger’, as its name originates from the Greek ‘pteron’ combined with the word ‘dactylos’ (meaning ‘finger’).