An aviator is a person who flies aircraft for pleasure or as a profession. The first recorded use of the term was in 1887 as a variation of the French 'aviation', from the Latin 'avis', coined 1863 by G. de la Landelle in "Aviation ou Navigation Aerienne". The term aviatrix is sometimes used for a female aviator. The term is often applied to pilots, but is often extended to include air navigators, bombardiers, Weapon Systems Officers, and electronic warfare Officers. This should not be confused with the term naval aviator, which refers crew members in the United States Navy, Marines and Coast Guard. There are also such minor aviation characters as wing-walkers who take part in aerobatic display sequences. The term aviator (as opposed to "pilot" or other terms) was used more in the early days of aviation, before anyone had ever seen an airplane fly, and it had connotations of bravery and adventure. For example, the editors at the Dayton Herald, in an article of December 18, 1903 described the Wright Brothers' first airplane thus: "The weight, including the body of the aviator, is slightly over 700 pounds".

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