nautical
Americanadjective
adjective
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of nautical
1545–55; < Latin nautic ( us ) pertaining to ships or sailors (< Greek nautikós, equivalent to naû ( s ) ship + -tikos -tic ) + -al 1
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Explanation
If it can go to sea, it’s nautical. That is, if it has to do with a boat, ship, sailor, or one of those maps of the ocean that nautical people call a chart, it can be considered nautical. You can wear khakis with sailboats or whales embroidered all over and not be the least bit nautical, but if you know that a rope is called a sheet and that hard to the lee means “duck and move to the other side of the boat,” there’s hope. The most nautical among us know what knot to tie in any given boating situation, which makes them both nautical and “knot-ical.”
Vocabulary lists containing nautical
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Nine new Marine Nature Reserves have been created since 2016, and together they now cover more than half the sea within three nautical miles of the coast.
From BBC ● Oct. 25, 2026
One of the ships, the HS Dignity, struck on Tuesday was hit 17 nautical miles off the coast of Krapets.
From Barron's ● Oct. 14, 2026
A local captain told me he had seen a CrossWave at Frying Pan Shoals Tower, 30 nautical miles off Cape Fear.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 10, 2026
The aircraft carrier traveled more than 85,000 nautical miles carrying around 5,000 sailors during its 10-month deployment, described as “one of the most operationally intense and consequential of the modern era” by U.S.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 8, 2026
Islanders knew him as a nautical sot who affected the gait and mannerisms of a sea captain: he tipped his captain’s hard-billed blue cap wherever he went on San Piedro.
From "Snow Falling on Cedars: A Novel" by David Guterson
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
