aquanaut
Americannoun
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an undersea explorer, especially one who skin-dives from or lives for an extended period of time in a submerged dwelling.
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a skin-diver.
noun
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a person who lives and works underwater
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a person who swims or dives underwater
Etymology
Origin of aquanaut
1880–85; aqua- + -naut, on the model of aeronaut, astronaut, etc.
Explanation
An aquanaut is someone who explores the underwater world in some way. They might go diving with specialized equipment, or live for a short time in underwater domes to do research. The word aqua means "water," and the word naut means "sailor," as in nautical. You might be thinking "Hey, aren't sailors already associated with water?" and that's true. Aquanaut was actually coined to be similar to astronaut, which literally means "star-sailor." So an aquanaut is someone who explores or temporarily lives and works underwater, similar to how astronauts explore or temporarily live and work in space.
Vocabulary lists containing aquanaut
Florida's B.E.S.T. Roots: aqua
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aqua, hydr (water)
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Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
