http://wordie.org/words/zeppelin Comments for the word 'Zeppelin' http://wordie.org http://wordie.org/words/zeppelin#comments What a <a href="/words/Zeppelin">Zeppelin</a>-head. :-) Thu, 01 Feb 2007 18:58:04 +0000 http://wordie.org/words/zeppelin#comments http://wordie.org/words/zeppelin#comments "Zeppelin" is not a synonym for "airship" or "dirigible" though many people use it that way. Zeppelin is a trade name and as such should always be capitalized, and only used to refer to a rigid airship produced by the Zeppelin company. It's like "Kleenex" or "Rollerblade." <br /> <br />Not all airships are dirigibles, either. The difference is that an airship is a "ballon dirigible," or "steerable balloon," while hot-air balloons--though airships--are not steerable. <br /> <br />Dirigibles include both rigid airships and blimps. Rigid airships contain a frame that holds the aircraft's shape regardless of whether the gas cells are filled with gas. A blimp is a large, sturdy (and steerable) balloon, in that it does not have a rigid frame underneath its outer covering (known as the envelope). Thu, 01 Feb 2007 15:59:01 +0000 http://wordie.org/words/zeppelin#comments