navel

• navil (obsolete)

From Middle English navel, navele, from Old English nafola, from Proto-West Germanic *nabulō, from Proto-Germanic *nabalô (compare West Frisian nâle, Dutch navel, German Nabel), from Proto-Indo-European *h₃nóbʰōl (compare Old Irish imbliu, Latin umbilīcus, Ancient Greek ὀμφαλός (omphalós), Persian ناف (nâf), Sanskrit नाभि (nābhi)), diminutive of *h₃nobʰ-, equivalent to nave +‎ -el (diminutive suffix)). Doublet of omphalos. More at nave.

• enPR: nā'vəl, IPA^(key): /ˈneɪvəl/
• (Southern US, obsolete) enPR: nā'bəl, IPA^(key): /ˈneɪbəl/^[1]

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -eɪvəl
• Homophone: naval

navel (plural navels)

1. (anatomy) The indentation or bump remaining in the abdomen of mammals where the umbilical cord was attached before birth.
2. The central part or point of anything; the middle.
   • 1637, John Milton, A Mask presented at Ludlow Castle, 1634:

     Within the navel of this hideous wood,
     Immured in cypress shades, a sorcerer dwells,
     Of Bacchus and Circe born, great Comus

   • 1769, Firishta, translated by Alexander Dow, Tales translated from the Persian of Inatulla of Delhi, volume I, Dublin: P. and W. Wilson et al., page iv:

     Sweeter than the muſk of Tatar, the morning breeze from the navel of every flower raviſhed perfume.

   • 2004, David Mitchell, Cloud Atlas, London: Hodder and Stoughton, →ISBN:

     We sat alfresco on the edge of a “square,” in reality a pond of cobbly mud with a plinth plonked in its navel […]

3. A navel orange.
   • 1981, Peter K. Thor, Edward V. Jesse, Economic Effects of Terminating Federal Marketing Orders for California-Arizona Oranges:

     This contributed to a rapid rise in planted acreage in northern California, especially in navels, which are more suited to growing conditions there.

4. (historical) An eye on the underside of a carronade for securing it to a carriage.

• bellybutton/belly button, nave (obsolete), umbilicus, see also Thesaurus:navel

• innie
• outie

• Alven, Levan, elvan, levan, venal

From Middle Dutch navele, navel, from Old Dutch *navalo, from Proto-Germanic *nabalô.

• IPA^(key): /ˈnaː.vəl/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Hyphenation: na‧vel
• Rhymes: -aːvəl

navel m (plural navels, diminutive naveltje n)

1. navel

• navelpiercing
• navelstreng
• naveltrui

• Afrikaans: nawel, nauel

• navele, navill, navyll, navle, naule, nawle, novel, novle, novele, nowle

From Old English nafola, from Proto-West Germanic *nabulō, from Proto-Germanic *nabulô; compare nave.

• IPA^(key): /ˈnaːvəl(ə)/

navel (plural naveles)

1. navel (of a human or animal)
2. centre, point, hub

• English: navel
• Scots: nyvel

• “nāvel(e, n.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.

From Old Norse nafli.

navel c

1. navel

• alven, elvan, laven, valen