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Original · left

Airdrop (military)

Dropping supplies or troops by parachute from an aircraft.

First in use: the 1940s
Duplicate · right

Airdrop (cryptocurrency)

Distributing free tokens to many wallet addresses, often to reward early users.

First in use: c. 2014

Airdrop / Airdrop (military) / Airdrop (cryptocurrency)

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Duplicate share · 12 mo—
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Colour keyGrey · original meaningGreen · duplicate meaningAmber · contested (40–60%)How colours work

Supply drops vs. free tokens.

Which meaning of Airdrop is the original, and which one is the duplicate riding on its name? Airdrop (military) came first (the 1940s). Airdrop (cryptocurrency) arrived in 2014. The data below shows which one owns the word now.

Wikipedia pageviews since 2015

Airdrop (military)Airdrop (cryptocurrency)
English Wikipedia pageviews since July 2015 load here.

Duplicate's share of attention

Green line = duplicate's % · above 60 it owns the word · below 40 the original does

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The case for each meaning

Sourced definitions, usage stats and quotes

Original · the 1940s

Airdrop (military)

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Duplicate · c. 2014

Airdrop (cryptocurrency)

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More duplicated terms

Crypto & web3