navigabilis

Forms

nāvigābilis (neuter nāvigābile); third-declension two-termination adjective^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin nāvigō (“to sail”) + -bilis,^[2][1][3] and the verb is formed from nāvis (“ship”),^[4] which goes back to Proto-Italic *nau- and Proto-Indo-European *neh₂-u- (“ship”).^[4] De Vaan takes this as probably “the floating one”, from a root meaning “to swim”.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Livy has it first,^[5][3] of a navigable river and of a sea made navigable by the season.^[2][6]

Semantic evolution

Seneca uses it of rivers and lakes, Tacitus of a navigable canal and of coasts that a canal would connect by water, and Pliny the Elder of trade carried by ship and of calm weather fit for sailing.^[2][6] The TLL notes that in prose it is found from Livy and the elder Seneca, and often in Pliny.^[3]

Medieval British sources keep the sense “navigable” and also have a form navigalis.^[7]

Timeline

• 59 BC–17 AD – Livy uses it of a river and of the sea.^[2][5]
• 4 BC–65 AD – Seneca uses it of rivers and lakes.^[2][5]
• 23/24–79 AD – Pliny the Elder uses it of ship-borne trade.^[2][5]
• 98–115 AD – Tacitus uses it of a canal.^[2][5]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Navigable, fit for ships;^[2][6] (of the sea or weather) suitable for sailing.^[2][6]
2. (of places) Connected by navigable waterways.^[2]
3. (of trade) Carried by ship.^[2]

Related words

• nāvigō
• nāvis

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
4. ^ a b c de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
5. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
6. ^ a b c d Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ Latham, R. E., D. R. Howlett, R. K. Ashdowne, et al. (1975–2013), Dictionary of Medieval Latin from British Sources, London: British Academy / Oxford University Press