dirigibleadj.n.
/ˈdɪrɪdʒɪb(ə)l/ A. adj.
Capable of being directed or guided.
ΘΚΠ
society > authority > subjection > obedience > manageability > [adjective] > able to be ruled, governed, or controlled
rulablec1449
dirigible1588
controllablea1600
directivea1616
governable1635
commandable1646
society > travel > air or space travel > ballooning > [adjective] > capable of being directed or controlled
dirigible1881
directable1884
society > travel > air or space travel > a means of conveyance through the air > balloons and airships > [adjective] > that can be steered
navigable1783
dirigible1881
society > armed hostility > hostilities at sea > naval weapons and equipment > [adjective] > torpedoes
dirigible1887
1588 W. Lambarde Eirenarcha (new ed.) i. x. 62 It would auayle greatly to the furtherance of the Service, if the Dedimus potestatem to giue these Oaths were dirigible to the Iustices (and none other).
1649 E. Reynolds Israels Prayer (new ed.) vii. 119 The proper conclusions deducible from these principles, and derigible unto those ends.
1688 J. Norris Theory & Regulation Love ii. i. 63 Why love as Dirigible is made the subject of Morality rather than understanding.
1833 W. Hamilton in Edinb. Rev. Apr. 209 Intellectual operations..in so far as they were dirigible, or the subject of laws.
1881 Sat. Rev. 51 110/1 For eighteen years..no attempt was made to render balloons dirigible.
1884 Cassell's Family Mag. 764 The balloon was dirigeable.
1887 St. Jas'. Gaz. 23 Sept. 5 A greater speed than has yet been attained by any other dirigible torpedo.
B. n.
A dirigible balloon or airship. Also transferred. (Cf. French dirigeable n.)
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > air or space travel > a means of conveyance through the air > balloons and airships > [noun] > airship
ship1679
airship1817
air sailor1834
navigable1882
dirigible1885
Zeppelin1896
aeronat1903
steerable1908
Zepp1914
vessel1915
1885 Sci. Amer. 26 Dec. 405/1 He has devised two systems of dirigible balloons... The first of these, the independent dirigible, is of much the greater importance.
1907 Daily Chron. 26 July 5/6 He had been up in a captive balloon, but never before in a dirigible.
1910 Daily Mail 6 June 8/1 Night-flying dirigibles.
1927 Glasgow Herald 28 Apr. 15 A new dictionary of air terms has been compiled... So far as England is concerned, the word ‘dirigible’ will disappear and only ‘airship’ remain.
1953 J. Y. Cousteau Silent World i. 96 (caption) Auguste Piccard, inventor of the Bathyscaphe, the undersea dirigible, tries aqualunging at Dakar.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1896; most recently modified version published online December 2020).
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adj.n.1588