cosmonaut

noun

cos·​mo·​naut ˈkäz-mə-ˌnȯt 

-ˌnät

: an astronaut of the Soviet or Russian space program

Examples of cosmonaut in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

The crew of international astronauts selected for the mission also includes NASA pilot Nichole Ayers and two mission specialists from other space agencies: Japanese astronaut Takuya Onishi of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (Jaxa) and Roscosmos cosmonaut Kirill Peskov. —Eric Lagatta, USA TODAY, 18 Mar. 2025

On Sunday, Williams, Wilmore, Hague and Gorbunov welcomed the incoming crew — NASA astronauts Anne McClain and Nichole Ayers, Japanese astronaut Takuya Onishi, and Russian cosmonaut Kirill Peskov — to the orbiting outpost. —Denise Chow, NBC News, 18 Mar. 2025

Hague, the Crew 9 commander, arrived at the station last September aboard a SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule along with cosmonaut Alexander Gorbunov. —Amanda Castro, Newsweek, 18 Mar. 2025

This would be the first all-female flight crew since Soviet cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova’s solo spaceflight in 1963. —Michelle Lee, People.com, 2 Apr. 2025

Word History

Etymology

Russian kosmonavt, from Greek kosmos + Russian -navt (as in aeronavt aeronaut)

First Known Use

1955, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for cosmonaut

• aeronaut
• aforethought
• afterthought
• apricot
• argonaut
• astronaut
• camelot
• coffeepot
• concordat
• entrepot
• flowerpot
• huguenot

Kids Definition

cosmonaut

noun

cos·​mo·​naut ˈkäz-mə-ˌnȯt 

-ˌnät

: a Soviet or Russian astronaut