cosmonaut

noun

cos·​mo·​naut ˈkäz-mə-ˌnȯt How to pronounce cosmonaut (audio)
-ˌnät
: an astronaut of the Soviet or Russian space program

Examples of cosmonaut in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web The two cosmonauts are midway through a yearlong stay aboard the space station while O'Hara is wrapping up a more typical six-month tour. William Harwood, CBS News, 5 Mar. 2024 They will be welcomed aboard ISS by the seven members of the station’s current regular crew — two Americans from NASA, one astronaut each from Japan and Denmark and three Russian cosmonauts. Reuters, NBC News, 21 Jan. 2024 While aboard the station, the seven astronauts and cosmonauts have been conducting a variety scientific experiments and studying an array of microgravity phenomena. Eric Lagatta, USA TODAY, 16 Jan. 2024 Left to right: Russian cosmonaut Alexander Grebenkin, NASA physician-astronaut Mike Barratt, commander Matthew Dominick and Jeanette Epps. William Harwood, CBS News, 26 Feb. 2024 Given the decay of Russia's space program, Orel probably won't ever transport cosmonauts into space, and when the Angara rocket will actually launch from Vostochny is anyone's guess. Stephen Clark, Ars Technica, 29 Sep. 2023 Since human space exploration began just over 60 years ago, 20 people have died – 14 in the NASA space shuttle tragedies of 1986 and 2003, three cosmonauts during the 1971 Soyuz 11 mission, and three astronauts in the Apollo 1 launch pad fire in 1967. Emmanuel Urquieta, The Conversation, 31 July 2023 What was meant to be a six-month mission turned into a 371-day trip to space for the astronaut and Russian cosmonauts Sergey Prokopyev and Dmitri Petelin, who returned to Earth on Wednesday, according to a press release from NASA. Allie Hayes, Peoplemag, 27 Sep. 2023 The Cold War is in the past and aboard the International Space Station, the cosmonauts and astronauts have formed an international family, speaking Russian and English, working on their research side by side. Katie Walsh, Los Angeles Times, 19 Jan. 2024

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'cosmonaut.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

Russian kosmonavt, from Greek kosmos + Russian -navt (as in aeronavt aeronaut)

First Known Use

1955, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of cosmonaut was in 1955

Dictionary Entries Near cosmonaut

Cite this Entry

“Cosmonaut.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/cosmonaut. Accessed 19 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

cosmonaut

noun
cos·​mo·​naut ˈkäz-mə-ˌnȯt How to pronounce cosmonaut (audio)
-ˌnät
: a Soviet or Russian astronaut

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