Plain English Meaning

A wing that is wider where it meets the fuselage and gets gradually narrower toward the tip, but not dramatically so. It sits between a fully rectangular wing and a sharply pointed one.

Full Definition

A wing planform in which the chord (the distance from the leading edge to the trailing edge) decreases gradually from the wing root to the wing tip, producing a wing that is wider where it joins the fuselage and narrower at the tip, but without an extreme reduction in width.

Context Anchor

Seen when studying wing shapes and how the outline of a wing affects lift, drag, structure, and stall behavior.

Derivation

‘Taper’ comes from the Old English ‘tapor,’ meaning to grow narrower toward one end — like a candle. ‘’ simply means not extreme. So a moderate taper wing narrows toward the tip, but only gradually.