aquanaut

Etymology

From aqua- + -naut.

aquanaut means an underwater explorer. Lexicurio rates it Sui generis — a strength score of 86 out of 100.

Why “aquanaut” is a great word

AQUANAUT — [Noun] An explorer who lives and works for an extended period in a pressurized underwater habitat. From aqua- (Latin for "water") + -naut (from Greek nautēs, meaning "sailor"). Coined in 1881 in a futuristic novel. Unlike a "diver," who submerges for a brief foray, or an "astronaut," who voyages into the void, an aquanaut is a sailor of inner space, committed to a prolonged, claustrophobic habitation of the deep. It is the hiss of equalizing pressure in a sea-lab, the spectral glow of a wrist-worn depth gauge in the permanent twilight, and the muffled creak of pressured metal through endless nights—a life lived in a bubble of air, a deliberate exile in a world not meant for us.

noun

An underwater explorer.