The proposal in this paper is that the Spanish morpheme {-nauta} and a series of metaphors are related to one another. A diachronic morphology approach is used to analyse word formation conventions (Rainer 2002; Pharies 2002, 2004). Also taken into account are studies that reveal the cognitive and communicative importance of metaphor (Lakoff and Johnson 1980) on new words that come into existence. Moreover, some studies use social representations to deal with these metaphors (Rodríguez Salazar, 2007). The sources analysed in the present study are all written texts in Spanish, primarily in Castilian and Argentinian. Via online searches, specific words were identified. Dictionaries such as DRAE, DEA, DUE, DVUA, VOX and those making up the online Nuevo Tesoro Lexicográfico de la Lengua Española were used as secondary sources.