What does cosmonaut mean?
Word: Cosmonaut
Part of Speech: Noun
Meaning: Cosmonaut means a person trained to travel in space, especially one from Russia or the former Soviet Union.
Synonyms: spaceman
How do you spell cosmonaut?
Syllables: cos - mo - naut
Tricky part: The ending is spelt naut, with au, as in nautical. Students who spell it by sound write cosmonot or cosmonaught.
Watch out for: cosmonot, cosmonaught
Memory tip: Naut comes from a Greek word for sailor, the same as in nautical: a cosmonaut sails through space.
Cosmonaut in a sentence
Example 1: The cosmonaut waved to the crowd before climbing into the rocket.
Example 2: Valentina Tereshkova became the first woman cosmonaut to fly in space, in 1963.
Example 3: Our school quiz asked us to name a famous cosmonaut.
Fun Fact
Yuri Gagarin, a Soviet cosmonaut, became the first person to travel into space, on 12 April 1961.
Practise the CREST Way
Word Connection
Choose the synonym of the word:
cosmonaut
a) astronaut
b) engineer
c) mechanic
d) navigator
Show answer
a) astronaut. Both words name a person who travels in space; cosmonaut is used for Russian crews.
Mingle-Mangle
Form a meaningful word from the jumbled letters:
nuoscmaot
a) cosmonaut
b) customs
c) mountains
d) outcomes
Show answer
a) cosmonaut. Outcomes has an e, mountains an i, and customs is far too short, so only cosmonaut uses all nine letters.
Word Cookie
Insert the correct pair of letters to form a word:
c_s_onaut
a) o,m
b) o,n
c) u,m
d) a,m
Show answer
a) o,m. Say COS clearly with a short o, then an m begins the next part.
Spell-o-Spell
Choose the incorrectly spelt word:
a) gravity
b) cosmanaut
c) telescope
d) satellite
Show answer
b) cosmanaut. The middle syllable of cosmonaut is mo, not ma.
Multiple Choice Questions
1. What is the main difference between a cosmonaut and other space travellers?
a) the country that trained them
b) the food they eat
c) the colour of their suits
d) how tall they are
Show answer
a) the country that trained them
2. A cosmonaut's main workplace is ____.
a) a post office
b) a spacecraft
c) a coal mine
d) an ocean liner
Show answer
b) a spacecraft
