Sputniks

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A type of artificial satellite or similar spacecraft launched into orbit around Earth
2. Objects designed for space exploration, often serving scientific, communication, or military purposes in orbit
3. Mechanisms launched into space to gather data or provide services while traveling in a predetermined path around the planet

Etymology: The Russian word "sputnik" meant "fellow traveller" long before it named a satellite. It combines "s-", meaning "with" or "together," with "putnik," a traveller, which itself comes from "put'," meaning "way" or "journey," plus the agent suffix "-nik." In 1957, Soviet authorities chose this everyday word for the first artificial Earth satellite, and the choice made it an international term overnight. English borrowed the word in that moment, so the sense of companionship on a road was lost to most speakers and replaced by the image of an orbiting machine. The plural "sputniks" is the form used when referring to more than one of these spacecraft, and it follows the normal English pattern of adding "-s" to a noun.

Synonyms: satellites, spacecraft, orbiters, probes, vehicles