airport

Definitions

air + port (harbor) = 'a harbor for the air' — a port where aircraft, instead of ships, enter and exit. The metaphor extends seaport into the sky: just as a seaport is a harbor for ships, an airport is a harbor for planes.

Why It Means This

Airport is one of the clearest cases of the port=harbor metaphor extending into a new domain. As 20th-century aviation grew, English needed a word for the place where aircraft operated, and the maritime port template was already there. The same logic produced seaport (older), heliport (helicopters), and spaceport (rockets). Each one borrows the harbor image: a controlled point of entry and exit for vehicles of a particular kind.

Common Collocations

• 1.international airport国际机场
• 2.airport terminal机场航站楼
• 3.at the airport在机场
• 4.airport security机场安检
• 5.airport shuttle机场班车

Example Sentences

• 1.

  We need to leave by 6 a.m. to reach the airport on time.

• 2.

  The new airport will handle 30 million passengers a year.

• 3.

  My flight was delayed, so I spent the night at the airport.