spaceship

Etymology

It is formed from English space + ship,^[2][3][4] after airship.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

A manned spacecraft: first recorded in 1880, in the Pall Mall Gazette.^[2][5] Etymonline dates the word to 1894,^[3] and Dictionary.com to 1940–45.^[6]

Semantic evolution

The word has kept its single meaning, a spacecraft, especially one carrying a crew who control it.^[4][2] The phrase spaceship earth is recorded from 1966.^[3][4]

Timeline

• 1880 – a manned spacecraft.^[2][5] Etymonline dates the word to 1894.^[3]
• 1966 – spaceship earth.^[3]

Meanings

Noun

1. A spacecraft, especially one carrying a crew, built to travel beyond the earth's atmosphere: The film follows the crew of a spaceship bound for Mars.^[7][5][4]

Related words

• spacecraft
• airship

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b c d Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ a b c Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
6. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
7. ^ Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins