English
nautical
Nautical may come from Middle French nautique ‘of or relating to sailors or navigation’.
- Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600nautique‘of or relating to sailors or navigation’uncertain
- Englishearliest quotation 1831nautical
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Earlier history uncertain.
Lineage
- Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600nautique‘of or relating to sailors or navigation’uncertain
- Englishearliest quotation 1831nautical
Earliest quotation: 1831, Vyvyan pseudonym, The Topographer. Travelling Notes in South Wales.: “The occurrence to which we allude—fraught as our shores…”
Formed from -al
The story
Nauticus is from Ancient Greek ναυτικός (nautikós), from ναύτης (naútēs, “sailor”) + -ικός (-ikós, adjecival suffix). With use as noun compare Classical Latin nauticus (‘sailor’).
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *néh₂us ‘boat’
navy, naval, navigation, navigate, navigator, navigable, nao, nef, nau, nacelle, navicular, 10 more
through Ancient Greek ναῦς ‘ship’
through Ancient Greek ναύτης ‘sailor’
through Classical Latin nauticus ‘of or relating to ships, seafaring’
Today it means
adj Of, relating to, or characteristic of sailing, sailors, or the sea.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Middle French nautique / nautical