nautilus

[nawt-l-uh s, not-]

noun, plural nau·ti·lus·es, nau·ti·li

[nawt-l-ahy, not-] /ˈnɔt lˌaɪ, ˈnɒt-/ for 1, 2.

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.

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 of nautilus

There is something about being in Captain Nemo's Nautilus that makes the absinthe taste even better.
The Absinthe-Minded Porteños of Buenos Aires
Jeff Campagna
March 10, 2014

Historical Examples of nautilus

The crew consisted of ten seamen from the Nautilus and the Constitution, all volunteers.
The Land We Live In
Henry Mann
The "Nautilus," it will be remembered, was captured early in the war.
The Naval History of the United States
Willis J. Abbot.
The Nautilus is not ours, and we have not the right to dispose of it.
The Secret of the Island
W.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 Bar
George Manville Fenn
Great was my delight, on getting it on board, to find that a nautilus had been caught.
In the Eastern Seas
W.H.G. Kingston

British Dictionary definitions for nautilus

nautilus

noun plural -luses or -li (-ˌlaɪ)

any cephalopod mollusc of the genus Nautilus, esp the pearly nautilus
short for paper nautilus

Word Origin for nautilus

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 Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for nautilus

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.