Definify.com
Webster 1913 Edition
Nautilus
Nau′ti-lus
,Noun.
pl. E.
Nautiluses
(#)
, L. Nautili
(#)
. [L., fr. Gr.
ναυτίλοσ
a seaman, sailor, a kind of shellfish which was supposed to be furnished with a membrane which served as a sail; fr. ναῦσ
ship. See Nave
of a church.] 1.
(Zool.)
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
. ☞ The head of the animal bears numerous simple tapered arms, or tentacles, arranged in groups, but not furnished with suckers. The siphon, unlike, that of ordinary cephalopods, is not a closed tube, and is not used as a locomotive organ, but merely serves to conduct water to and from the gill cavity, which contains two pairs of gills. The animal occupies only the outer chamber of the shell; the others are filled with gas. It creeps over the bottom of the sea, not coming to the surface to swim or sail, as was formerly imagined.
3.
A variety of diving bell, the lateral as well as vertical motions of which are controlled, by the occupants.
Webster 1828 Edition
Nautilus
NAUTILUS
,Noun.
Learn of the little nautilus to sail.
Definition 2024
nautilus
nautilus
See also: Nautilus
English
Nautilus
Noun
nautilus (plural nautiluses or nautili)
- 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.
- 1956 — Arthur C. Clarke, The City and the Stars, p 44
- He was still prepared to go on collecting all that life could offer, like a chambered nautilus patiently adding new cells to its slowly expanding spiral.
- 1956 — Arthur C. Clarke, The City and the Stars, p 44
Synonyms
Derived terms
Translations
marine mollusc of the family Nautilidae
Latin
nautilus (paper nautilus)
Alternative forms
Etymology
From Ancient Greek ναυτίλος (nautílos, “nautilus, sailor”); see naval.
Pronunciation
- (Classical) IPA(key): /ˈnau.ti.lus/
Noun
nautilus m (genitive nautilī); second declension
- paper nautilus, argonaut (genus Argonauta)
Inflection
Second declension.
| Case | Singular | Plural |
|---|---|---|
| nominative | nautilus | nautilī |
| genitive | nautilī | nautilōrum |
| dative | nautilō | nautilīs |
| accusative | nautilum | nautilōs |
| ablative | nautilō | nautilīs |
| vocative | nautile | nautilī |
Related terms
Descendants
- English: nautilus
- Translingual: Nautilus
References
- nautilus in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
- Félix Gaffiot (1934), “nautilus”, in Dictionnaire Illustré Latin-Français, Paris: Hachette.