airport

UK /ˈeə.pɔːt/ US /ˈer.pɔːrt/ Syllables: air-port

Pronunciation

Noun A1 Beginner Neutral

A place where aircraft take off and land, and where passengers board their flights.

An airport is a place where planes take off and land and where passengers wait, check in and collect their bags. A big airport has terminals, shops, restaurants and a long list of flights on screens. You go to the airport to catch a plane or to meet someone who is arriving. Smaller airports serve small towns and may have only a few flights a day. The word is made of air and port, because an airport is a port for the air.

"We arrived at the airport three hours before our flight."

Example sentences

"We arrived at the airport three hours before our flight."

Level A1
"The airport is about twenty minutes from the city center."

Level A2
"My uncle picked us up at the airport."

Level A1
"Airport security checks every bag."

Level A2

Look-alikes and common mistakes

airfield : An airfield is a flat area where small planes land, often with no terminals. An airport has buildings for passengers.
terminal : A terminal is one building inside an airport. The airport includes all of them.

Word family and forms

Forms: airports

air port airline aircraft airfield

Word partners

Words and phrases that often go with "airport".

go to the airport
an airport shuttle
arrive at the airport
a busy airport
airport security
the airport terminal

Origin

Airport is made from air and port, and it appeared in English around 1915 to 1920. It was formed on the model of the older word seaport, with air in place of sea, since a port is a place where travelers arrive and leave.

Checked against: Wiktionary, the free dictionary, Dictionary.com.

How to remember it

Airport is air plus port. A seaport is for ships, so an airport is for planes.

Test yourself

Which word fits the gap? "We arrived at the _____ three hours before our flight."

Answer: airport

In your own words, what does "airport" mean?