Definition
Cockpit screens that present several types of flight information on a single display, allowing the pilot to select and switch between views such as moving maps, navigation data, weather, traffic, terrain, engine readings, and system status.
Plain English
One screen in the cockpit that can show many different things, and the pilot chooses what to look at.
Context Anchor
Seen in aircraft with screen-based instrument panels, especially during preflight setup, navigation, systems monitoring, and in-flight decision-making.
Derivation
Multi means many, and function means job or task. So a multifunction display is literally a screen that does many jobs — replacing what used to require several separate instruments.
Why Pilots Care
Reduces cockpit workload and scan time by letting the pilot call up the needed information on demand without looking at many separate instruments.
Analogy
A multifunction display is like a tablet screen that can show a map, a checklist, or a status page, depending on what you open. The screen is the same, but the information on it changes.
Intuition Check
Do not assume “multifunction” means the display shows everything at once. It means the display can show different kinds of information, usually by selecting different pages or views.
Example Sentence 1
The instructor showed the student how to bring up the weather overlay on the multifunction display before departure.
Example Sentence 2
On final approach the left multifunction display presented the approach chart while the right one continued to show traffic and altitude.