astronaute
/as.tʁɔ.not/feminine, masculine
The English word astronaut is astronaute in French.
An astronaute is a member of the crew of a spaceship or other spacecraft, or someone trained for that purpose.
Meaning: member of the crew of a spaceship or other spacecraft, or someone trained for that purpose (noun)
Which one should you use?
While astronaute is the general term, the French word cosmonaute is specifically used to refer to astronauts from the Russian space program.
How does it change in a sentence?
The word astronaute is used for both men and women, but the indefinite article changes to une to indicate a female astronaut.
How do you pronounce it?
/as.tʁɔ.not/. The word has 3 syllables.
Did you know?
- The term spationaute was deliberately championed by the French space agency CNES to establish a linguistic identity independent of the US and USSR.
- Because the root -naute means 'sailor', the French word astronaute conceptually treats the vacuum of space as a cosmic ocean to be sailed.
- The term 'spationaute' is specifically tied to the European Space Agency, creating a three-way vocabulary split between 'astronaute', 'cosmonaute', and 'spationaute'.
Examples in context
- Il rêve de devenir astronaute.He is dreaming of becoming an astronaut.This sentence shows the use of astronaute in a dream context.Tatoeba #8392309 by Aiji, translation #293862 by CK
- J'aimerais devenir un astronaute.I would like to become an astronaut.This sentence shows how to express a desire to become an astronaute.Tatoeba #9971446 by yarnx, translation #9971448 by yarnx
- Tom voulait être astronaute quand il était jeune.Tom wanted to be an astronaut when he was young.This sentence shows how to talk about what someone wanted to be in their youth using astronaute.Tatoeba #5379158 by Scorpionvenin14, translation #5379156 by Hybrid
- Mon rêve est de devenir un astronaute un jour.My dream is to become an astronaut one day.
- L'astronaute français, Thomas Pesquet, a passé six mois dans l'espace.French astronaut Thomas Pesquet spent six months in space.
- Je rêve de devenir un spationaute et d'explorer les étoiles!I dream of becoming an astronaut and exploring the stars!
- 11 more sentences on Tatoeba
Example conversation
Hugo and Manon are talking about their favorite jobs.
- HugoEst-ce que tu veux être astronaute ?Do you want to be an astronaut?
- ManonOui, je veux voyager dans l'espace.Yes, I want to travel in space.
- HugoC'est un métier très courageux.It is a very brave job.
- ManonC'est vrai, être astronaute est passionnant !That's true, being an astronaut is exciting!
Sources
- Wiktionary, “astronaut” translations and entries astronaute, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
