taikonaut

Meaning

Noun

  • A person who travels in space for the Chinese space program; a Chinese astronaut.

Origin

  • From Mandarin -naut, modelled after astronaut, cosmonaut, spationaut, etc. The term was coined on 19 May 1998 by Chiew Lee Yih (趙里昱／赵里昱) from Malaysia, who used it first in newsgroups. Almost simultaneously, Chen Lan coined it for use in the Western media.

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