The present participle of 'aviate,' meaning to pilot or operate an aircraft.
From 'aviate,' which was created in the early 1900s from Latin 'avis' (bird) and the suffix '-ate' to describe the new act of flying in powered machines.
The verb 'aviate' was literally invented to describe what the Wright Brothers were doing, making it one of English's youngest aviation-related words, created right when human powered flight became possible.
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