navis

Pronunciation

• IPA (Classical): [ˈnaː.wɪs]^[1]
• IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈnaː.vis]^[1]

Forms

nāvis f (genitive nāvis); third declension^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Italic *nau- (“ship”), inherited from Proto-Indo-European *neh₂-u- (“ship”), probably “the floating one”, from the root of “to swim”, as in nō.^[2][1][3] Cognate with Old Irish nau (“ship”), Sanskrit नौ (náu, “ship”), Ancient Greek ναῦς (naûs, “ship”) and Old Norse nór (“ship”).^[2][4] The long vowel of the oblique forms, *nāwV-, spread to the whole paradigm.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan and Köbler date it from Livius Andronicus,^[2][5] who has people carrying gifts to the ships.^[4] Köbler places his career before 200 BC.^[5]

Semantic evolution

It was a ship, as in Ennius' nāvēs vēlivolae “sail-winged ships”, with phrases such as nāvis longa “warship” and nāvis onerāria “merchant ship”.^[4][6] In astronomy it was the constellation Argo.^[4]

Döderlein contrasts nāvigium, the general word for a vessel, with nāvis, a ship for long voyages.^[7] In medieval Latin it was a vault, the nave of a church, a gutter, and an incense boat.^[8] English nave (1670s) is from the church sense.^[9] Its derivative nāvālis gave English naval, and nāvigia “vessels” gave Old French navie and English navy.^[9]

Timeline

• before 200 BC – Livius Andronicus speaks of carrying gifts to the ships.^[4][5]
• 204–169 BC – Ennius has nāvēs vēlivolae.^[4][5]
• 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of the constellation Argo.^[4][5]
• 1670s – English nave is recorded.^[9]

Meanings

Noun

1. A ship, nāvis longa, a warship.^[4][6]
2. The constellation Argo.^[4]
3. (Medieval Latin) The nave of a church; a vault.^[8]
4. (Medieval Latin) An incense boat; a gutter.^[8]

Word family

• nāvālis
• nāvia
• nāvicella
• nāvicula
• nāviculāris
• nāviculārius
• nāviculor
• nāvifragus
• nāvigābilis
• nāvigātiō
• nāvigātor
• nāviger

Related words

• nauta
• English naval
• English navy
• English nave

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
3. ^ Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
6. ^ a b Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
7. ^ Döderlein, Ludwig (1874), Döderlein’s Hand-book of Latin Synonymes, tr. H. H. Arnold, Andover: W. F. Draper
8. ^ a b c Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
9. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com