nautilus
Americannoun
plural
nautiluses, nautili-
Also called chambered nautilus, pearly nautilus. any cephalopod of the genus Nautilus, having a spiral, chambered shell with pearly septa.
-
(initial capital letter) the first nuclear-powered submarine launched by the U.S. Navy.
noun
-
any cephalopod mollusc of the genus Nautilus, esp the pearly nautilus
-
short for paper nautilus
Etymology
Origin of nautilus
1595–1605; < Latin < Greek nautílos paper nautilus, literally, sailor, derivative of naûs ship; the webbed dorsal arms of the paper nautilus were thought to have been used as sails
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.
Agnoli, who worked as a carpenter prior to entering architecture, used long spans of wood to create massive trusses and spiraling nautilus shapesand formed brick into catenary arches.
From Los Angeles Times • Aug. 6, 2025
The results suggest nautilus shells, orderly yet beguilingly sinuous.
From Washington Post • Feb. 24, 2023
The storm had twisted the structure's metal roof like a nautilus shell and rolled it out into the street.
From Salon • Feb. 23, 2023
The last common ancestor of most cephalopods likely had a chambered, pearly shell, not unlike the iconic one worn by the nautilus, a shelled cephalopod that survives to this day.
From New York Times • Nov. 5, 2022
My walls are decorated with images of the Fibonacci spiral in nature: flower petals, pinecones, nautilus shells, far-off galaxies.
From "The Miscalculations of Lightning Girl" by Stacy McAnulty
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.
