n.
The tail assembly of an aircraft, including the horizontal and vertical stabilizers, elevators, and rudder.
[French, feathers on an arrow, empennage, from empenner, to feather an arrow : en-, in; see en-1 + penne, feather (from Latin penna).]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
