Teachers Note:

Description: Find the meaning of the words cosmonaut, astronaut, spationaute using etymology.

Objective(s): Learn about etymology through examples of “space” words.

Hints:

• “Astro” includes all celestial bodies in the universe: stars, planets, …
• “Nauta” means sailor, seaman
• “Cosmo” means universe
• “Spatio” means space
• “Astronaut” means the “sailor of the stars and planets…”. This word is used in English and in other languages, e.g. Spanish “astronauta”.
• Another word with “astro” can be “astronomy”. “nomy” has to do with studying. Astronomy is the science that studies the celestial bodies, in particular the rules that define their relative movements in the Universe.
• “Internaute” or the “sailor of Internet” is used for people surfing on Internet.
• “Cosmonaut” means the “sailor of the Universe”. The word means astronaut in Russian.
• “Spationaute” means the “sailor of space”. The word is French.

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