Taikonaut

Pronunciation

• Hyphenation: tai + ko + naut

Origin

The term was coined on 19 May 1998 by Chiew Lee Yih (Mandarin: 趙裡昱 (trad.)
赵里昱 (simpl.) Zhào Lǐyù) from Malaysia, who used it first in newsgroups. Almost simultaneously, Chen Lan coined it for use in the Western media based on Mandarin (太空 tàikōng), space. Source: Mail & Guardian This follows the pattern established by the terms astronaut and cosmonaut (which share the -naut suffix) for having different terms for space workers denoting country of origin.

Full definition of taikonaut

Noun

1. A person who travels in space for the Chinese space program; a Chinese astronaut.
• 2003, Peter Schwartz, Inevitable Surprises, p x.The past decade has seen remarkable events and changes: ... The Columbia disaster and a Chinese taikonaut in orbit

Synonyms

• hangtianyuan
• yuhangyuan (宇航员)

Related terms

• astronaut
• cosmonaut