A Messerschmitt is a German military plane from the Second World War, designed and built under Willy Messerschmitt (1898–1978), a German engineer. When English speakers say 'a Messerschmitt', they usually mean the famous fighter planes, especially the Bf 109 (also called the Me 109). The same name also covers other machines from that factory, including an early jet, the Me 262. It is a maker's name that became a type-name, the way people say 'a Spitfire' for a British fighter. In films, games and history books, 'Messerschmitt' often stands for the German side in the air. It is not a word for aircraft in general, and not every German war plane was one — other companies built fighters too. After the war the name lives on in museums and among people who study old planes. Write it with a capital M: it began as a person's name.

梅塞施密特（二戰德軍戰機）