Welcome to AnswerPool, Oleg, and thanks for that correction. Did the word always mean "satellite" or did that meaning come after the first artificial satellite was launched?
Posts: 17184 | Location: Lincoln Place, Granite City, IL, USA | Registered: 06-03-02
Originally posted by DorianGreyed: Welcome to AnswerPool, Oleg, and thanks for that correction. Did the word always mean "satellite" or did that meaning come after the first artificial satellite was launched?
"Sputnik" has different meanings. One of these is "satellite" when you mean a space satellite of a planet (ex. the Moon to the Earth, the Fobos to the Mars or artificial satellite). Others meanings is "fellow traveler" when you talk about who (or what) accompany you in your life, travel or somewhere else.
Posts: 7 | Location: St-Petersburg, Russia | Registered: 06-08-06
I understand that. My question is about when the celestial body usage became part of the language. Words evolve and often gain new meanings. The word "cookie" only meant something edible or a person until the advent of computers. Now, it has another meaning along with the other two. Before rockets allowed man to send objects beyond the earth's atmosphere, did the word "sputnik" mean a body travelling in space?
Posts: 17184 | Location: Lincoln Place, Granite City, IL, USA | Registered: 06-03-02
Originally posted by DorianGreyed: Before rockets allowed man to send objects beyond the earth's atmosphere, did the word "sputnik" mean a body travelling in space?
Yes, it did. This meaning has existed for a long time (since the beginning of stellar and planets observation, I think ).
Posts: 7 | Location: St-Petersburg, Russia | Registered: 06-08-06