nave Italian · revision 38008

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=before 1250, Giacomo da Lentini|origins=ine-pro *néh₂us}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /ˈna.ve/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''nave''' ''f'' (plural navi)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|la|nāvis|t=ship]], through the accusative form.^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)^(GRADIT 2003)^(Wiktionary) The Latin word lives on in most Romance languages: [[fr|nef]], [[oc|nau]], [[ca|nau]], [[es|nave]], [[pt|nave]], [[sc|nae]] and [[ro|naie]].^(Nocentini 2010)^(REW 1935) DEI doubts that the word is truly pan-Romance and notes that [[fro|nave]] was brought into French in the 13th century by two writers steeped in Italian, Philip of Novara and Marco Polo.^(DEI|2555)^(DIFIT)

+

+ The Latin noun belongs to the oldest layer of the Indo-European vocabulary.^(Nocentini 2010)^(Devoto 1968) It goes back to [[itc-pro|*naus]] and [[ine-pro|*néh₂us]], and its cognates include [[grc|ναῦς|tr=naûs]], [[sa|नौ|tr=naú]], [[hy|նավ|tr=nav]], [[sga|nau]] and [[non|nór]].^(de Vaan 2008)^(Nocentini 2010)^(Wiktionary) De Vaan explains the word as “the floating one”, from the root for swimming, and notes that Latin brought the long vowel of the oblique cases into the nominative and then remade the word as an ⟨i⟩-stem.^(de Vaan 2008)^(Devoto 1968)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The first record is in Giacomo da Lentini, the leading poet of the Sicilian school (before 1250), for a large vessel carrying people and goods on the water.^(DELI 1999)^(GRADIT 2003) DEI also records the 14th-century sense “cargo of a ship”.^(DEI|2555)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ In early Italian ''nave'' could also mean any boat: Dante writes of “nave che per torrente giù discende” (a boat going down a torrent).^(GRADIT 2003)^(Zingarelli 2010) The poets made the ship a figure for a life or a community, as in Petrarch's “passa la nave mia colma d'oblio” (my ship passes, laden with forgetfulness) and Dante's “nave senza nocchiere in gran tempesta” (a ship without a pilot in a great storm), said of Italy.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026) From the 14th to the 18th century the word also named a particular kind of three-masted square-rigged sailing ship.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+

+ The architectural sense “nave of a church” is used by Matteo Villani (before 1363), and the derivative ''navata'' by Francesco di Giorgio Martini (before 1502), perhaps because the space recalls the hull of a ship.^(DIFIT)^(DELI 1999)^(GDLI|11, 256) Modern compounds are partly calques of English: ''nave spaziale'' follows ''space ship'' and ''nave traghetto'' follows ''ferry-boat''.^(DELI 1999) French used ''nave'' as a borrowing from about 1216 until the 16th century, and German ''Nave'' is recorded from 1461.^(DIFIT)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1216 – French ''nave'' is first recorded as a borrowing.^(DIFIT)

+ * Before 1250 – Giacomo da Lentini uses ''nave''.^(DELI 1999)

+ * Before 1304 – ''Navetta'' “little ship” appears in a translation of Plutarch.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1353 – Boccaccio uses ''navale''.^(DELI 1999)

+ * Before 1363 – Matteo Villani uses ''nave'' for the nave of a church.^(DIFIT)

+ * 1461 – German ''Nave'' is first recorded.^(DIFIT)

+ * Before 1502 – ''Navata'' is recorded in Francesco di Giorgio Martini.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A [[m|en|ship]], a large vessel with its own means of propulsion, carrying passengers or goods or used in war: ''nave da crociera'', ''nave cisterna'', ''nave da guerra''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Treccani 2011)

+ # ''(literary)'' A boat of any size.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+ # ''(figurative, literary)'' The course of a person's life or of a community.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+ # ''(historical)'' A three-masted sailing ship with square sails and a [[m|en|bowsprit]].^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # ''(uncommon)'' The [[m|en|nave]] of a church, a ''navata''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Treccani 2011)

+ # A large oblong vat, especially the one in which milk is left to stand before skimming (''nave da latte'').^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # ''(astronomy)'' ''Nave'', the constellation Argo.^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Treccani 2011)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[navale]]

+ * [[navata]]

+ * [[navetta]]

+ * [[navicella]]

+ * [[navicello]]

+ * [[naviglio]]

+ * [[navigare]]

+ * [[astronave]]

+ * [[motonave]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[naufragio]]

+ * [[nauta]]

+ * [[la|nāvis]]

+ * [[fr|nef]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ Common compounds include ''nave scuola'' (training ship), ''nave ammiraglia'' (flagship), ''nave spaziale'' (spaceship) and ''nave traghetto'' (ferry); ''la nave del deserto'' is the camel.^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Gabrielli 2020)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}