An Etymological Dictionary of Astronomy and Astrophysics

A reusable space vehicle designed to travel between the Earth and an orbiting space station for specific missions (carrying a crew and a cargo deploying and retrieving satellites) and then to return.

Etymology (EN): → space; M.E. shotil (n.); O.E. scytel “a dart, arrow;” cf. O.N. skutill “harpoon;” akin to shut, shoot.

Etymology (PE): Nâvak “small ship; ship like,” from nâv “ship” (O.Pers./Av. *nāv-, O.Pers. nāviyā- “fleet;” cf. Skt. nau-, nava- “ship, boat;” Gk. naus “ship;” L. nauticus “pertaining to ships or sailors”) + -ak diminutive/similarity suffix. Nâvak also means “a small arrow, an arrow flying swift,” which may have a different origin.