What does hangar mean?
A hangar is a large enclosed building in which aircraft are kept when they are not flying. Such buildings provide space for parking, inspection, maintenance, and repair, and they protect valuable aircraft from weather and other outdoor conditions. The word also has an older, broader meaning: a shed or covered structure used to store goods or shelter vehicles, although this use is now uncommon. As a verb, hangar means to place or keep an aircraft in a hangar, but it is much less frequent than the noun. In aviation contexts, hangar commonly forms phrases such as aircraft hangar, maintenance hangar, and hangar door. The word is easily confused with hanger, a support used for hanging clothes, because the two differ by only one letter. The noun has a long history as a general term for a store or covered building before becoming established in its specialized modern sense as an aircraft building.
A large enclosed building in which aircraft are stored, protected, inspected, serviced, or repaired. In older and less common use, a covered structure for storing goods or sheltering vehicles.
"All the private jets were lined up inside the airport's largest hangar."
The aircraft sense is now dominant. The broader storage-building sense survives mainly in historical and specialist contexts.
To place or keep an aircraft in a hangar.
"The airline hangared its aircraft overnight during the storm."
This use is relatively uncommon compared with the noun, particularly in formal aviation and operational writing.
The regular plural adds -s to the singular form.
"Several hangars were built beside the new airport terminal."
An aircraft hangar stores planes; a hanger holds coats—the difference is one letter, but the scale is astronomical.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does hangar come from?
The word entered English in the early seventeenth century from French hangar, ultimately derived from a Frankish or Germanic root associated with hanging or suspension. Its early sense referred to a shed, store, or covered structure, and the specialized meaning for aircraft buildings developed later. English hanger belongs to the same broader Germanic hanging tradition, which explains the persistent similarity between the two words.
How hangar is actually used
As a noun, hangar is standard technical terminology in aviation and related industries; the verb is much less common. British and American pronunciations differ chiefly in the medial consonant, which is usually /g/ in American English.
Easily confused with hangar
A hangar houses aircraft, whereas a hanger is a hook or support from which clothing or other objects are suspended.