Speakur

Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

taikonaut

/ˈtaɪkəˌnɔːt/

Word Rarity Very rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 0.00 in modern English

Syllables
tai-ko-naut
IPA
/ˈtaɪkəˌnɔːt/
13
Scrabble Score
9
Letters
3
Syllables
7
Unique Chars

Meaning

noun

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

Example Sentences

Etymology

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

Word Breakdown

Inflected Forms

taikonauts (plural)

Frequently Paired Words

astronaut cosmonaut spationaut vyomanaut

Questions

How do you pronounce taikonaut?
The recorded pronunciation is /ˈtaɪkəˌnɔːt/.
What does taikonaut mean?
A person who travels in space for the Chinese space program; a Chinese astronaut.
Where does taikonaut come from?
From Mandarin 太空 (tàikōng, “space”) + -naut, modelled after astronaut, cosmonaut, spationaut, etc. The term was coined on 19 May 1998 by Chiew Lee Yih (趙里昱 (Zhào Lǐyù)) from Malaysia, who used it first in newsgroups. Almost simultaneously, Chen Lan coined it for use in the Western media.

How to pronounce taikonaut

  1. Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “taikonaut”.
  2. Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling (/ˈtaɪkəˌnɔːt/) so you know which sounds to aim for.
  3. Play the audio — Click Play to hear reference audio for “taikonaut”.
  4. Repeat and practice — Say “taikonaut” aloud, matching stress and vowels until it feels natural.