Definition
A wing planform in which the chord (front-to-back width) decreases sharply from the root (where the wing meets the fuselage) to the tip. The ratio of root chord to tip chord is large, giving the wing a strongly tapered, narrow-tipped shape when viewed from above.
Plain English
A wing that is much wider where it joins the fuselage than at the tip, narrowing strongly along its length.
Context Anchor
Seen in discussions of wing shape, lift distribution, and stall behavior in the Pilot’s Handbook of Aeronautical Knowledge.
Derivation
Taper' comes from Old English 'tapor', meaning a candle that narrows toward its top. Applied to a wing, it describes the same idea: a shape that gets progressively narrower from one end to the other. 'High' here means a large degree of taper, not a position or altitude.
Why Pilots Care
Taper affects how lift is distributed across the wing and how the wing stalls. A highly tapered wing tends to be lighter and more efficient at cruise, but can stall at the tips first if not designed carefully, which can reduce aileron effectiveness right when the pilot needs it.
Analogy
Picture a table leaf that is broad at one end and much narrower at the other. A high taper wing has that same strong narrowing shape when viewed from above.
Intuition Check
High taper does not mean the wing is mounted high on the airplane. It means the wing narrows a large amount from the root to the tip.
Example Sentence 1
The trainer's high taper wing made it lighter and more efficient in cruise, but the designers added washout at the tips to keep the stall behavior gentle.
Example Sentence 2
Designers selected a high taper wing to reduce induced drag while maintaining structural efficiency.