sputnik

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈspʊtnɪk/, /ˈspʌtnɪk/^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Russian спутник (sputnik, “satellite; travelling companion”),^{[2][3][4][5][6]} short for sputnik zemli “fellow traveller of the earth”,^[2][4] from s- “together, with”, put' “way, path” and the agent suffix -nik.^{[2][3][4][5][6]} It goes back to Old Church Slavonic supǫtĭnikŭ.^[3][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Any of a series of Soviet satellites, especially the first, launched on 4 October 1957 (1957).^{[2][3][4][5][7]}

Semantic evolution

The word was soon used for any artificial satellite.^[7][1] Etymonline notes that the launch set off a fashion for new words in -nik, such as muttnik for the dog Laika and flopnik and kaputnik for the failed American satellite.^[4]

Timeline

• 4 October 1957 – launch of the first Sputnik.^[2][4]
• 1957 – the word in English.^[3][4][5][7]
• 1958 – transferred and figurative uses.^[7]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. Any of a series of Soviet satellites put into earth orbit beginning in 1957, especially the first.
2. Any artificial satellite.

Related words

• -nik
• beatnik
• satellite

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
3. ^ a b c d e Barnhart, Robert K., ed. (1995), The Barnhart Concise Dictionary of Etymology, New York: HarperCollins
4. ^ a b c d e f g h Harper, Douglas, Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ a b c d Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
6. ^ a b Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary (1999), 2nd ed., New York: Random House
7. ^ a b c d Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press