Etymologically
Log in

navigator

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 31 October 2026 at 23:52. This address is a permanent link to this version.
Changes in this edit History

Pronunciation

  • /ˈnavɪɡeɪtə/[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin nāvigātor (“one who sails a ship, sailor”),[2][3][4][5] an agent noun from nāvigō (“to sail, sail over”).[2][3][4] The Latin verb is formed from nāvis (“ship”) and agō (“to drive, lead”),[6][3] from the roots Proto-Indo-European *nau- (“boat”) and Proto-Indo-European *ag- (“to drive”).[3][6] The OED compares Italian navigatore, of the 14th century, and Middle French navigateur, of 1529.[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

A sailor, especially one skilled in navigation or directing a ship's course: 1574, in B. Rich's dialogue of Mercury and an English soldier.[2][7] Etymonline dates it to the 1580s.[3]

Semantic evolution

A balloonist was an aerial navigator from 1784, and the person who plots an aircraft's course later took the name;[2] the person who reads the map for a car's driver followed in 1950.[2] In Britain, navigation also meant an inland waterway or canal,[3] and the men who dug the canals, and later the railways, were navigators from 1775,[2][3] clipped to navvy by 1832.[3] In Wiltshire and Somerset dialect a navigator was a rough labourer.[8] In computing, it was a person searching databases (1973) and then a program that finds data on the internet, a browser (1988).[2] Victorian rhyming slang used navigator for a potato.[9]

Timeline

  • 1574 – a sailor who directs a ship's course; an explorer by sea.[2][7]
  • 1775 – a labourer digging canals, a navvy.[2][3]
  • 1784 – a balloonist; later, one who directs an aircraft's course.[2]
  • 1950 – one who reads the map for a car's driver.[2]
  • 1973 – a person searching computer databases.[2]
  • 1988 – a program that locates data on the internet; a browser.[2]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A person who directs the course of a ship or aircraft, especially an officer trained in navigation.[7][10][2]
  2. A person who explores by sea, especially in former times.[10][7]
  3. A person who reads the map and gives directions to a driver, as in a car rally.[2]
  4. A device that shows or directs the course of an aircraft, missile or vehicle.[7][10]
  5. (chiefly British, now rare) A labourer digging canals or railways; a navvy.[2][5]

References

  1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ a b Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
  5. ^ a b Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  6. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
  7. ^ a b c d e Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  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)
  9. ^ Green, Jonathon (2010), Green's Dictionary of Slang, London: Chambers; digital ed. 2016–, https://greensdictofslang.com
  10. ^ a b c Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins