navel
/ˈneɪvəl/ noun, verb
Forms navels naveling navelling naveled navelled navil
- noun (anatomy) The indentation or bump remaining in the abdomen of placental mammals where the umbilical cord was attached before birth.
- noun The central part or point of anything; the middle.
- noun A navel orange.
- noun (historical) An eye on the underside of a carronade for securing it to a carriage.
- verb (literary and poetic) To be in the middle of a landscape.
Synonyms
bellybutton belly button nave umbilicus omphalos omphalus navel point
Etymology
From Middle English navel, navele, from Old English nafola, from Proto-West Germanic *nabulō, from Proto-Germanic *nabalô (“navel”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₃nóbʰōl (“navel”), diminutive of *h₃nebʰ- (“hub; navel”).
Cognate with West Frisian nâle (“navel”), Dutch navel (“navel”), German Nabel (“navel”), Vilamovian nowuł (“navel”), Yiddish נאָפּל (nopl, “navel”), Danish, Norwegian Bokmål, and Norwegian Nynorsk navle (“navel”), Icelandic nafli (“navel”), Swedish navel (“navel”); also Irish imleacán (“navel”), Scottish Gaelic ilmeag, imleag (“navel; nave”), Kashmiri ناب (nāb, “navel”), Latin umbilīcus (“navel”), Greek αφαλός (afalós), ομφαλός (omfalós, “navel”), Old Prussian nabis (“navel”), Armenian անիվ (aniv, “wheel”), Central Kurdish ناوک (nawik, “navel”), Persian ناف (nâf, “navel”), Sanskrit नाभि (nābhi, “navel; centre”),
Doublet of omphalos. More at nave.
Webster’s 1913
- noun A mark or depression in the middle of the abdomen; the umbilicus.
- noun The central part or point of anything; the middle.
Etymology [AS. nafela, fr. nafu nave; akin to D. navel, G. nabel, OHG. nabolo, Icel. nafli, Dan. navle, Sw. nafle, L. umbilicus, Gr. n. *260. See Nave hub, and cf. Omphalic, Nombril, Umbilical.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “navel”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details