Argonaut

2 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Argonaut \Ar"go*naut\, n. [L. Argonauta, Gr. ?; ? + ? sailor, ?
     ship. See {Argo}.]
     1. Any one of the legendary Greek heroes who sailed with
        Jason, in the Argo, in quest of the Golden Fleece.
        [1913 Webster]
  


     2. (Zool.) A cephalopod of the genus Argonauta.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     2. One of those who went to California in search of gold
        shortly after it was discovered there in 1848. [U. S.]
        --Bret Harte.
        [1913 Webster]
  
              The "Argonauts of '49" were a strong, self-reliant,
              generous body of men.                 --D. S.
                                                    Jordan.
        [Webster 1913 Suppl.]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  argonaut
       n 1: someone engaged in a dangerous but potentially rewarding
            adventure
       2: (Greek mythology) one of the heroes who sailed with Jason on
          the Argo in search of the Golden Fleece
       3: cephalopod mollusk of warm seas whose females have delicate
          papery spiral shells [syn: {paper nautilus}, {nautilus}, {Argonauta
          argo}]