In the United States, the word ramp is an older term for an area where pre-flight activities were done; an apron was any area for parking and maintenance.

The term "apron" in an airport context refers to the paved area where aircraft are parked, loaded, unloaded, refueled, or boarded. The name likely originated from the theatrical "apron stage," which is the area of a stage that juts out in front of the curtain into the audience. In the early 20th century, as airports evolved from simple grass fields into structured terminals, the paved section directly in front of the terminal building—where passengers would gather to watch the "show" of aviation—closely resembled a theatrical apron. Another plausible historical theory is that the paved area often took on a fan-like or "apron" shape when viewed from above, jutting out from the terminal to protect the ground from being churned into mud by heavy fuel trucks and aircraft tires. While many travelers today colloquially call this area the "tarmac" (which actually refers to the material) or the "ramp" (a term more common in North American pilot-speak), "apron" remains the official ICAO and FAA technical term used by controllers and ground crews to distinguish it from the taxiways and runways.