aeronaut

/ˈɛɹəˌnɔt/

Other forms: aeronauts

An aeronaut is someone who flies an aircraft: a pilot. Originally, an aeronaut was specifically someone who flew a balloon.

This word looks a lot like astronaut, and it means something similar: a pilot. Though an aeronaut can be someone who pilots any kind of flying vehicle, this word has most commonly applied to people who fly balloons: balloonists. In the mid-1800's, pioneering scientist and inventor Thaddeus S. C. Lowe made a record balloon journey from Cincinnati to South Carolina, thus becoming an early claimant to this word, which had been coined late in the previous century.

Definitions of aeronaut

1. noun

   someone who operates an aircraft
   synonyms: airman, aviator, flier, flyer

   examples:

   Floyd Bennett

   United States aviator who (with Richard E. Byrd) piloted the first flight over the North Pole (1890-1928)

   Louis Bleriot

   French aviator who in 1909 made the first flight across the English Channel (1872-1936)

   Jacqueline Cochran

   United States aviator who held several speed records and headed the women's Air Force pilots in World War II (1910-1980)

   James Harold Doolittle

   United States Air Force officer who electrified the world in 1942 by leading a squadron of 16 bombers on a daylight raid over Tokyo (1896-1993)

   Amelia Earhart

   first woman aviator to fly solo nonstop across the Atlantic (1928); while attempting to fly around the world she disappeared over the Pacific (1898-1937)

   Howard Robard Hughes

   United States industrialist who was an aviator and a film producer; during the last years of his life he was a total recluse (1905-1976)

   Charles Augustus Lindbergh

   United States aviator who in 1927 made the first solo nonstop flight across the Atlantic Ocean (1902-1974)

   William Mitchell

   United States aviator and general who was an early advocate of military air power (1879-1936)

   Wiley Post

   United States aviator who in 1933 made the first solo flight around the world (1899-1935)

   types:

   airwoman, aviatress, aviatrix

   a woman aviator

   airplane pilot, pilot

   someone who is licensed to operate an aircraft in flight

   barnstormer, stunt flier, stunt pilot

   a pilot who travels around the country giving exhibits of stunt flying and parachuting

   captain, senior pilot

   the pilot in charge of an airship

   combat pilot

   airplane pilot who fights in an action between two military forces

   co-pilot, copilot

   a relief pilot on an airplane

   kamikaze

   a pilot trained and willing to cause a suicidal crash

   test pilot

   a pilot hired to fly experimental airplanes through maneuvers designed to test them

   wingman

   the pilot who positions his aircraft outside and behind (on the wing of) the leader of a flying formation

   type of:

   skilled worker, skilled workman, trained worker

   a worker who has acquired special skills