6 ms·

> 'aeronauts', literally meaning 'being born into air'. <pedant>Incorrect. The suffix -naut is from Greek naute^s, meaning sailor. Of course it may be that the

> 'aeronauts', literally meaning 'being born into air'. <pedant>Incorrect. The suffix -naut is from Greek naute^s, meaning sailor. Of course it may be that the Chinese phrase used does mean "being born into air", but then the article should say that</pedant>

Cpoll 10y ago
Maybe they were thinking "aeronat" :) (Nat- being a Latin prefix for "born", see "natal")
gumby 10y ago
my eye read it as an autocorrect error where the author had attempted to write "borne" for that is what a ship does for sailors.