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Origin and history of parachute

parachute(n.)

"apparatus, usually in the shape of a very large umbrella, carried in an aircraft, that may allow a person or thing to drop to the surface below without injury or damage," 1784 (the year the first use of one was attempted, in Paris), from French parachute, literally "that which protects against a fall," hybrid coined by French aeronaut François Blanchard (1753-1809) from para- "defense against" (see para- (2)) + chute "a fall" (see chute).

PARACHUTE, a kind of large and strong umbrella, contrived to break a person's fall from an airballoon, should any accident happen to the balloon at a high elevation. ["Supplement to the Encyclopaedia or Dictionary of Arts and Sciences," Philadelphia, 1803]

parachute(v.)

"to descend or convey by or as if by the aid of a parachute," 1807, from parachute (n.). Marked "rare" in Century Dictionary (1895); it became more common 20c. Related: Parachuted; parachuting.

also from 1807

Entries linking to parachute

chute(n.1)

1725, American English, "fall of water" (earlier shoot, 1610s), from French chute "fall," from Old French cheoite "a fall," fem. past participle of cheoir "to fall," from Latin cadere "to fall," from PIE root *kad- "to fall." Meaning "inclined tube, trough" is from 1804; that of "narrow passage for cattle, etc." first recorded 1871. In North America, absorbing some senses of similar-sounding shoot (n.1).

chute(n.2)

also 'chute, short for parachute (n.), attested from 1919.

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More to explore

jump
1520s, "make a spring from the ground" (intransitive), a word with no apparent source in Old or Middle English, perhaps imitative (compare bump (v.)); another theory derives it from words in Gallo-Roman dialects of southwestern France (such as jumba "to rock, to balance, swing,"
sky
Sky-diving "sport or activity of jumping from an aircraft and free-falling before landing by parachute" is attested from...
descend
c. 1300, descenden, "move or pass from a higher to a lower place," from Old French descendre (10c.) "descend, dismount; fall into; originate in" and directly from Latin descendere "come down, descend, sink," from de "down" (see de-) + scandere "to climb," from PIE root *skand- "j
dive
c. 1200, diven, "descend or plunge headfirst into water," from a merger of Old English dufan "to dive, duck, sink" (intransitive, class II strong verb; past tense deaf, past participle dofen) and dyfan "to dip, submerge" (weak, transitive), from Proto-Germanic verb *dubijan, from
plunge
late 14c., plungen, "to put, throw, or thrust violently into; immerse, submerge," also intransitive, from Old French plongier "plunge, sink into; plunge into, dive in" (mid-12c., Modern French plonger), from Vulgar Latin *plumbicare "to heave the lead," from Latin plumbum "lead"
shroud
Old English scrud "a garment, article of clothing, dress, something which envelops and conceals," from West Germanic *skruthan, from Proto-Germanic *skrud- "cut" (source also of Old Norse skruð "shrouds of a ship, tackle, gear; furniture of a church," Danish, Swedish skrud "dress
fall
Old English feallan (class VII strong verb; past tense feoll, past participle feallen) "to drop from a height; fail, decay, die," from Proto-Germanic *fallanan (source also of Old Frisian falla, Old Saxon fallan, Dutch vallen, Old Norse falla, Old High German fallan, German falle
glide
Old English glidan "move along smoothly and easily; glide away, vanish; slip, slide" (class I strong verb, past tense glad, past participle gliden), from Proto-Germanic *glidan "to glide" (source also of Old Saxon glidan, Old Frisian glida, Old High German glitan, German gleiten)
canopy
"suspended covering serving as protection or shelter," late 14c., canope, from Old French conope "bed-curtain" (Modern French canapé), from Medieval Latin canopeum, a dissimilatiion of Latin conopeum "mosquito curtain,"from Greek kōnōpeion "Egyptian couch with mosquito curtains,"
harness
c. 1300, "personal fighting equipment, body armor," also "armor or trappings of a war-horse," from Old French harnois, a noun of broad meaning: "arms, equipment; harness; male genitalia; tackle; household equipment" (12c.), of uncertain origin, perhaps from Old Norse *hernest "pr

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