astronaut

[ as-truh-nawt, -not ]

noun

1. a person engaged in or trained for spaceflight.

astronaut

/ ˈæstrəˌnɔːt /

noun

1. a person trained for travelling in space See also cosmonaut

astronaut

1. A crew member of a space mission launched by the United States. ( See Apollo program and Mercury program .)

Word History and Origins

Origin of astronaut¹

1925–30; astro- + (aero)naut, probably via French astronaute; astronautical

Word History and Origins

Origin of astronaut¹

C20: from astro- + -naut from Greek nautēs sailor, on the model of aeronaut

Example Sentences

“It has the best sleeping bag in the world,” says Nicole Stott, an American astronaut with Nasa who spent 104 days in space on two missions in 2009 and 2011.

From BBC

“Inside it's like many buses all bolted together. In half a day you might never see another person,” explains Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield, commander on the Expedition 35 mission in 2012-13.

From BBC

"The greatest gift you can give a professional astronaut is to let them stay longer."

From BBC

“On Earth we have lots of different smells, like washing machine laundry or fresh air. But in space there’s just one smell, and we get used to it quickly,” explains Helen Sharman, the first British astronaut, who spent eight days on the Soviet space station Mir in 1991.

From BBC

And since she now wants to be an astronaut, she likes space and looking at the space shuttle.

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• cosmonaut
• pilot