nautilus
[nawt-l-uh s, not-]
- Also called chambered nautilus, pearly nautilus. any cephalopod of the genus Nautilus, having a spiral, chambered shell with pearly septa.
- paper nautilus.
- (initial capital letter) the first nuclear-powered submarine launched by the U.S. Navy.
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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
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for nautilus
Contemporary Examples
There is something about being in Captain Nemo's Nautilus that makes the absinthe taste even better.
Historical Examples
The crew consisted of ten seamen from the Nautilus and the Constitution, all volunteers.
The Land We Live InHenry Mann
The "Nautilus," it will be remembered, was captured early in the war.
The Naval History of the United StatesWillis J. Abbot.
The Nautilus is not ours, and we have not the right to dispose of it.
The Secret of the IslandW.H.G. Kingston (translation from Jules Verne)
There is only one, and that is to get these two schooners safe alongside of the Nautilus.
The Black BarGeorge Manville Fenn
Great was my delight, on getting it on board, to find that a nautilus had been caught.
In the Eastern SeasW.H.G. Kingston
nautilus
- any cephalopod mollusc of the genus Nautilus, esp the pearly nautilus
- short for paper nautilus
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Word Origin
C17: via Latin from Greek nautilos sailor, from naus ship
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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Word Origin and History for nautilus
n.
marine cephalopod, c.1600, from Latin nautilus, in Pliny a kind of marine snail (including also squid, cuttlefish, polyps, etc.), from Greek nautilos "paper nautilus," literally "sailor," from nautes "sailor," from naus "ship" (see naval). The cephalopod formerly was thought to use its webbed arms as sails.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper