aeronaut

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   a person who travels through the air in a balloon or airship; historically, an aviator

   The aeronaut released ballast so that the balloon would climb above the clouds.

Simplified etymology

Aeronaut combines Greek aēr, ‘air’, and nautēs, ‘sailor’. In late-18th-century English it meant a traveller in a balloon or airship.

Borrowed from French aeronaute, formed from aero- ("air"), ultimately Ancient Greek aer, + -naut ("sailor, traveler"), from Greek nautes. Coined for balloon travelers, it was later extended to early aviators.

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