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navigation

Etymology and origin of the English word navigation

History Permalink
Confidence
Established
Formation
Borrowing
First attested
1527
Borrowed from
French navigation
Ultimate origin
Proto-Indo-European (*neh₂u-)

Pronunciation

  • IPA: /nævɪˈɡeɪʃən/[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from French navigation or directly borrowed from Latin nāvigātiō (“a sailing, voyage”), nāvigātiōnem,[2][3][4] from nāvigāre, to sail, steer a ship (see navigate),[2][5] from nāvis, ship (from Proto-Indo-European *nau-, boat), and the root of agere, to drive.[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

A voyage, a journey by water: about 1527, now rare;[3][6] moving on water in ships, the 1530s (1533).[2][6]

Semantic evolution

The art or science of directing a ship's course, including finding its position, is from 1559.[6] Inland navigation, by canals and rivers, is from 1727.[6] Travel through the air by aircraft is from 1804,[6] and the science of directing aircraft or spacecraft from 1922.[6] Reading the map for a car driver is from 1944.[6] The Century Dictionary named the two fundamental problems of navigation as finding the ship's position and deciding the best course to a given point.[2] In Midland English dialect a navigation is a canal.[7][8]

Timeline

  • c. 1527 – a voyage.[3]
  • 1533 – sailing.[6]
  • 1559 – the art of navigation.[6]
  • 1727 – inland navigation.[6]
  • 1804 – air navigation.[6]
  • 1922 – navigation of aircraft.[6]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. The skill or process of plotting a route and directing a ship, aircraft or vehicle along it.
  2. The act of navigating: navigation of the river.
  3. Traffic by vessels; shipping.
  4. (Midland English dialect) A canal or inland waterway.

Word family

  • navigational
  • navigationally
  • astronavigation
  • avigation
  • geonavigation
  • misnavigation
  • nonnavigation
  • renavigation

References

  1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  3. ^ a b c Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  4. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  5. ^ Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
  7. ^ Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
  8. ^ Wright, Joseph, ed. (1898–1905), The English Dialect Dictionary, 6 vols., Oxford: Henry Frowde; via EDD Online 4.0, University of Innsbruck (CC BY 4.0)

Related etymologies

Cite this entry

“Navigation.” Etymologically, 17 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/en/navigation. Accessed 17 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·