Yuri Gagarin

3 5.0

A Soviet pilot who became the first person to travel into space in 1961

proper noun
/ˈjʊəri ɡəˈɡɑrɪn/

: Yuri Gagarin

On April 12, 1961, cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin became the first man to fly in space, orbiting the Earth once in Vostok 1.
Yuri Gagarin the cosmonaut

Examples

Yuri Gagarin made history in 1961 as the first person to orbit the Earth.
Many people around the world celebrated when Yuri Gagarin returned safely from space.
A statue of Yuri Gagarin stands in Moscow to honor his achievements.
Yuri Gagarin was the first human to orbit the Earth.
Did Yuri Gagarin really fly into space in 1961?
On April 12, 1961, Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin thrilled the world when he became the first human in space.
Many people celebrate April 12 as the anniversary of Yuri Gagarin's historic spaceflight in 1961.

Synonyms

Gagarin

vsYuri Gagarin

5 7.6

A Soviet astronaut who in 1961 became the first person to travel into space

is the full personal name form rather than the surname alone

Surface Forms

Yuri Gagarin main

Morphology

yuri + Gagarin

This is a proper name referring to a specific historical individual; the identity and biographical meaning cannot be composed from 'Yuri' (a male personal name) and 'Gagarin' (a surname) alone without encyclopedic world knowledge. A B1 learner who only knows the constituent words would not be able to infer that this person was the Soviet cosmonaut and the first human in space, so the expression is non-compositional.

Etymology

Yuri Gagarin is the name of the Soviet cosmonaut who, in 1961, flew alone in a small metal capsule and looked down at the whole Earth. So his name now stands for 'the first human to travel into space'.