What does fanjet mean?
A fanjet is a type of jet engine — known in modern usage as a turbofan — that combines features of the earlier turbojet with an added ducted fan at the front. Driven by a turbine, this fan accelerates a large mass of air, some of which flows through the engine's core for combustion while the remainder bypasses it entirely, producing additional thrust. By moving a larger volume of air at lower speed, the fanjet achieves far better fuel efficiency and produces less noise than a plain turbojet, which is why virtually every commercial airliner flying today is powered by engines of this design. The word can also refer to an aircraft equipped with such engines. Although engineers now almost always say "turbofan," the term "fanjet" survives in older technical literature and popular histories of aviation, where it captures a pivotal moment when jet travel became quieter, cheaper, and widely accessible.
nounA fanjet is a jet engine in which a large fan at the front drives a portion of air around the combustion core, producing thrust more efficiently than a simple turbojet; it may also refer to an aircraft powered by such an engine.
- A jet propulsion engine with a ducted fan that accelerates a large volume of air, part of which bypasses the core (also called a turbofan).
- An aircraft powered by fanjet engines.
"The airliner's new fanjets cut fuel consumption on long-haul routes dramatically."
"Each fanjet hung beneath the wing delivered over eighty thousand pounds of thrust."
"By the 1970s, wide-body fanjets had made affordable intercontinental travel a reality."
Regular English plural; used both for multiple engines and for multiple aircraft.
"The museum's hangar houses two vintage fanjets from the 1960s."
"Fanjet" fuses two aviation words into one — and the humble fan it names is the reason modern airliners sip fuel instead of gulping it.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of fanjet
Fanjet is a compound of "fan" — from Latin vannus, a winnowing basket, via Middle English — and "jet," from French jeter, meaning to throw, ultimately from Latin jacere. The term arose in mid-twentieth-century aviation English as manufacturers developed fan-equipped jet turbines. Its jet element links it to cognates such as eject, inject, project, and reject, all descendants of the same Latin verb.
How fanjet is actually used
The term is largely technical and historical today; in modern aerospace writing "turbofan" has become the standard term, with "fanjet" appearing mostly in older engineering literature and general-interest accounts of aviation history.
Easily confused with fanjet
A turbojet drives all its intake air through the core, whereas a fanjet or turbofan diverts much of the air around the core for greater efficiency.