lennuk

Lennuk is the Estonian noun for an airplane or aircraft. It denotes a fixed-wing vehicle designed for air travel and is used across civil aviation, military operations, and private flying. In everyday language, lennuk can refer to any such aircraft, while rotorcraft are referred to by helikopter. The plural form is lennukid, used when speaking of multiple airplanes. In official contexts—signage at airports, aviation reporting, and educational materials—the word is standard and unambiguous.

The term belongs to a common Estonian pattern of forming nouns for devices or objects with the suffix -uk, with the root associated with flight or flying. As a result, lennuk is widely understood by speakers and appears in media, signage, and technical contexts related to air travel.

Related terms in Estonian include lennundus (aviation) and lennujaam (airport). Helikopter is used for helicopters, distinguishing rotorcraft from fixed-wing aircraft. Lennuk thus remains the predominant everyday word for a passenger airplane or similar fixed-wing aircraft in Estonian, used across informal speech, journalism, and official discourse.