Nautilus
//ˈnɔː.tɪ.ləs// noun
noun ·Uncommon ·Advanced level
Definitions
Noun
- 1 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.
"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."
- 2 cephalopod of the Indian and Pacific oceans having a spiral shell with pale pearly partitions wordnet
- 3 A kind of diving bell that sinks or rises by means of compressed air.
- 4 cephalopod mollusk of warm seas whose females have delicate papery spiral shells wordnet
- 5 A paper nautilus (actually an octopus).
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- 6 a submarine that is propelled by nuclear power wordnet
Example
More examples"The Nautilus, a private research ship, is operated by the Ocean Exploration Trust. The group says its aim is to examine “areas of the ocean that have never been explored before.”"
Etymology
From Latin nautilus, from Ancient Greek ναυτίλος (nautílos, “paper nautilus, sailor”).
Related phrases
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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.