nautilus
UK /ˈnɔː.tɪ.ləs/ · US /ˈnɔ.tɪ.ləs/ noun
Forms nautiluses nautili
- noun A marine mollusc, of the family Nautilidae native to the Pacific Ocean and Indian Ocean, which has tentacles and a spiral shell with a series of air-filled chambers, of which Nautilus is the type genus.
- noun A kind of diving bell that sinks or rises by means of compressed air.
- noun (inexact) A paper nautilus (actually an octopus).
Synonyms
chambered nautilus nuclear submarine nuclear-powered submarine paper nautilus Argonaut Argonauta argo pearly nautilus
Etymology
From Latin nautilus, from Ancient Greek ναυτίλος (nautílos, “paper nautilus, sailor”).
Webster’s 1913
- noun The only existing genus of tetrabranchiate cephalopods. About four species are found living in the tropical Pacific, but many other species are found fossil. The shell is spiral, symmetrical, and chambered, or divided into several cavities by simple curved partitions, which are traversed and connected together by a continuous and nearly central tube or siphuncle. See Tetrabranchiata.
- noun The argonaut; --also called paper nautilus. See Argonauta, and Paper nautilus, under Paper.
Etymology [L., fr. gr. Nave of a church.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “nautilus”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details