'RADAR' is an acronym so successful most people forget it stands for Radio Detection And Ranging.
A system for detecting the presence, direction, distance, and speed of aircraft, ships, and other objects, by sending out pulses of radio waves which are reflected off the object.
An acronym of 'RAdio Detection And Ranging,' coined by the United States Navy in 1941. The technology was developed independently by several countries in the 1930s — Britain, Germany, France, and the United States all had working systems before the term 'radar' unified them under one name. The component words each have deep etymological roots: 'radio' from Latin 'radius' (ray, spoke of a wheel), from PIE *wréh₂ds (root, branch); 'detection' from Latin 'dētegere' (to uncover, to expose), from 'de-' (un-) + 'tegere' (to cover), from PIE *steg- (to cover); 'ranging' from
'Radar' is one of the most successful acronyms in any language — so successful that most people don't know it IS an acronym. It also works as a palindrome. The British initially called their system 'RDF' (Radio Direction Finding), deliberately vague to preserve secrecy. The Americans preferred