Definition of nautilus Nautilus

/nɔˈtʌlʌs/ - [notulus] - nau•ti•lus

We found 10 definitions of nautilus from 6 different sources.

What does nautilus mean?

WordNet

Noun Plural: nautiluses
nautilus - a submarine that is propelled by nuclear power
		nuclear submarine, nuclear-powered submarine
nautilus - cephalopod of the Indian and Pacific oceans having a spiral shell with pale pearly partitions
		chambered nautilus, pearly nautilus
		cephalopod, cephalopod mollusk marine mollusk characterized by well-developed head and eyes and sucker-bearing tentacles
nautilus - cephalopod mollusk of warm seas whose females have delicate papery spiral shells
		paper nautilus, Argonaut, Argonauta argo
		octopod a cephalopod with eight arms but lacking an internal shell

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Webster DictionaryWebster's Unabridged Dictionary 📘

nautilus (n.)
The only existing genus of tetrabranchiate cephalopods. About four species are found living in the tropical Pacific, but many other species are found fossil. The shell is spiral, symmetrical, and chambered, or divided into several cavities by simple curved partitions, which are traversed and connected together by a continuous and nearly central tube or siphuncle. See Tetrabranchiata.
nautilus (n.)
The argonaut; -- also called paper nautilus. See Argonauta, and Paper nautilus, under Paper.
nautilus (n.)
A variety of diving bell, the lateral as well as vertical motions of which are controlled, by the occupants.

Chambers DictionaryChamber's 20th Century Dictionary 📕

nautilus
naw′ti-lus, n. a Cephalopod found in the southern seas, once believed to sail by means of the expanded tentacular arms: a kind of diving-bell sinking or rising by means of condensed air:—pl. Nau′tiluses, or Nau′tili.—adjs. Nau′tiliform, Nau′tiloid.—Paper nautilus, any species of Argonauta. [L.,—Gr. nautilos, a sailor.]

Sailor's Word-BookThe Sailor's Word-Book ⛵

nautilus
The pearly nautilus, N. pompilius, is a marine animal, belonging to the same class (Cephalopoda) as the cuttle-fish, but protected by a beautiful, chambered, discoid shell. The paper-nautilus (Argonauta argo) belongs to a different family of the same class, and has a simple, delicate, boat-like shell.

Wikipedia

Nautilus (from Greek "nautilos", 'sailor') is the common name of seveal cephalopods. All of them have been grouped in the family Nautilidae. This is the only family of the suborder Nautilina. Though it more specifically refers to the species "Nautilus pompilius", the name "chambered nautilus" is also used for any species of the Nautilidae.

Natiluses are the only living members of the subclass Nautiloidea. They have not changed much in millions of years. Many biologists see them as "living fossils".

The name "Nautilus" originally referred to the "Argonauta", otherwise known as paper nautiluses, because they allegedly use their two expanded arms as sails (cf. Aristotle "Historia Animalium" 622b).

Description.

The nautilus is similar in general form to other cephalopods, with a prominent head and tentacles. Nautiluses typically have more tentacles than other cephalopods, up to ninety. These tentacles are arranged into two circles and, unlike the tentacles of other cephalopods, they have no suckers, are undifferentiated and retractable. The radula is wide and distinctively has nine teeth. There are two pairs of gills.

"Nautilus pompilius" is the largest species in the genus. One form from western Australia may reach 268 mm in diameter. However, the majority of other nautiluses never exceed 20 cm. "Nautilus macromphalus" is the smallest species, usually measuring only 16 cm.

The shell.

Nautiluses are the only cephalopods whose bony structure of the body is externalized as a shell.