aerial vs airborne

aerial

adj
  • Living or taking place in the air. 

  • Above the ground 

  • Pertaining to the air or atmosphere; atmospheric. 

  • Made up of air or gas; gaseous. 

  • Positioned high up; elevated. 

  • Ethereal, insubstantial; imaginary. 

  • Pertaining to a vehicle which travels through the air; airborne; relating to or conducted by means of aircraft. 

noun
  • A rod, wire, or other structure for receiving or transmitting radio, television signals etc. 

  • A move, as in dancing or skateboarding, involving one or both feet leaving the ground. 

  • An aerial photograph. 

airborne

adj
  • In or carried by the air. 

  • Fitted to an aircraft. 

  • In flight. 

  • Transported by air in an aircraft. 

noun
  • Military infantry intended to be transported by air and delivered to the battlefield by parachute or helicopter. 

How often have the words aerial and airborne occurred in a corpus of books? (source: Google Ngram Viewer )