nautilus
UK[ˈnɔːtɪləs]US[ˈnɔːtələs]
n
A tropical sea creature with a spiral shell divided into connected chambers, of which the last and largest is occupied by the animal.
n
A submarine or other craft named after the sea creature, especially the fictional one in Jules Verne's *Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea*.
Etymology
The word 'nautilus' sails directly into English from Latin, which borrowed it from the Greek nautilos, meaning "sailor." This name was given to the cephalopod because its papery shell was thought to function like a ship, with the animal using a membranous siphon as a sail. The Greek root naus (ship) is ancient, tracing back to the Proto-Indo-European nau-, also meaning "boat." Thus, the modern biological term retains a poetic, centuries-old metaphor, linking the creature's elegant, buoyant shell to the image of a vessel navigating the seas.
Analysis
The word is a simplex loanword from Latin. It originates from Greek nautilos, meaning "sailor," derived from nautēs (sailor) and ultimately from naus (ship). In English, it functions as an indecomposable noun.
Examples
The nautilus is often called a living fossil due to its ancient lineage.
Captain Nemo commanded the advanced submarine *Nautilus*.
The chambered nautilus builds its shell in a perfect logarithmic spiral.