as·tro·naut

[as-truh-nawt, -not]
noun
a person engaged in or trained for spaceflight.

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

astronaut, cosmonaut.
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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
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Collins
World English Dictionary
astronaut (ˈæstrəˌnɔːt) [Click for IPA pronunciation guide]
 
n
See also cosmonaut a person trained for travelling in space
 
[C20: from astro- + -naut from Greek nautēs sailor, on the model of aeronaut]

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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00:10
Astronaut is always a great word to know.
So is doohickey. Does it mean:
an extraordinary or unusual thing, person, or event; an exceptional example or instance.
a gadget; dingus; thingumbob.
Etymonline
Word Origin & History

astronaut
coined 1929 (but popularized 1961) from astro- + nautes "sailor" (see naval). Fr. astronautique (adj.) had been coined 1927 by "J.H. Rosny," pen name of Belgian-born science fiction writer Joseph Henri Honoré Boex (18561940).
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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American Heritage
Cultural Dictionary

astronaut definition


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

The American Heritage® New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition
Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Example sentences
Since the dawn of the space era, astronaut fitness has been a large component
  of who gets chosen to fly into space.
During his training as an astronaut he had made light of the physical and
  psychological tests that spacemen had to endure.
Imagine an astronaut in a spaceship with no windows, and no other way to peer
  at the outside world.
As the eons go by, the astronaut then witnesses his corner of the universe
  evolve.
Images for astronaut
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