astronaut

noun

as·​tro·​naut ˈa-strə-ˌnȯt 

-ˌnät

plural astronauts

: a person whose profession is to travel beyond the earth's atmosphere

NASA on Wednesday introduced the group of astronauts it has chosen for upcoming missions to the moon. The program, called Artemis, aims to send people back to the moon for the first time since the end of NASA's Apollo program in 1972.

—Kenneth Chang

broadly : any person who travels beyond the earth's atmosphere

William Shatner, the 90-year-old actor of "Star Trek" fame, endured a 10-minute, rocket-powered ride to the edge of space … . In that moment, at least one thing became certain: Yes, a nonagenarian can be an astronaut.

—Jackie Wattles

Word Icons

Examples of astronaut in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

The film does feature an intriguing central performance in Megan Northam’s Elsa, a young woman still grieving the loss of her brother, Franck, a young French astronaut who went to space and never came back. —Bilge Ebiri, Vulture, 8 Nov. 2024

Its major competitor, Boeing, is having serious problems with spacecraft that NASA has contracted to carry astronauts to and from the International Space Station. —Cnn.com, The Mercury News, 7 Nov. 2024

The American government is already relying on SpaceX to fly astronauts to space, provide satellite internet for operations across the U.S. military, and help realize its plans to return to the moon. —Marina Koren, The Atlantic, 5 Nov. 2024

The Apollo Guidance Computer, which helped land astronauts on the moon, had only 72 KB of ROM and 4 KB of RAM—far less than basic modern devices. —Yuval Boger, Forbes, 5 Nov. 2024

Word History

Etymology

astro- + -naut (in aeronaut)

Note: See note at astronautics.

First Known Use

1928, in the meaning defined above

Kids Definition

astronaut

noun

as·​tro·​naut ˈas-trə-ˌnȯt 

-nät

: a traveler in a spacecraft

astronautic

ˌas-trə-ˈnȯt-ik

adjective

or astronautical

-i-kəl,

-nät-

Etymology

from astro- "star, heavens" (derived from Greek astron "star") and -naut (derived from Greek nautēs "sailor," from naus "ship") — related to nausea, nautical see Word History at nausea