navel
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navel
- /ˈneɪvəl/
- /ˈneɪbəl/ Southern US, obsolete
Sounds like naval · Rhymes with -eɪvəl
Where it comes from
From Middle English navel, navele, from Old English nafola, from Proto-West Germanic *nabulō, from Proto-Germanic *nabalô (“navel”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₃nóbʰōl (“navel”), diminutive of *h₃nebʰ- (“hub; navel”).
Cognates
Cognate with West Frisian nâle (“navel”), Dutch navel (“navel”), German Nabel (“navel”), Vilamovian nowuł (“navel”), Yiddish נאָפּל (nopl, “navel”), Danish, Norwegian Bokmål, and Norwegian Nynorsk navle (“navel”), Icelandic nafli (“navel”), Swedish navel (“navel”); also Irish imleacán (“navel”), Scottish Gaelic ilmeag, imleag (“navel; nave”), Kashmiri ناب (nāb, “navel”), Latin umbilīcus (“navel”), Greek αφαλός (afalós), ομφαλός (omfalós, “navel”), Old Prussian nabis (“navel”), Armenian անիվ (aniv, “wheel”), Central Kurdish ناوک (nawik, “navel”), Persian ناف (nâf, “navel”), Sanskrit नाभि (nābhi, “navel; centre”),
Doublet of omphalos. More at nave.
noun navels · navil
- The indentation or bump remaining in the abdomen of placental mammals where the umbilical cord was attached before birth.
- The central part or point of anything; the middle. Within the navel of this hideous wood, Immured in cypress shades, a sorcerer dwells, Of Bacchus and Circe born, great Comus
- A navel orange. This contributed to a rapid rise in planted acreage in northern California, especially in navels, which are more suited to growing conditions there.
- An eye on the underside of a carronade for securing it to a carriage.
Similar: bellybutton, belly button, nave, umbilicus, navel
verb navels · naveling · navelling · naveled · navelled
- To be in the middle of a landscape. Lo, Nemi! navelled in the woody hills / So far, that the uprooting wind which tears / The oak from his foundation, and which spills / The ocean o’er its boundary, and bears / Its foam against the skies, reluctant spares / The oval mirror of thy glassy lake; […]
Thesaurus
noun
Similar: bellybutton, belly button, nave, umbilicus, navel
Translations
Every language
noun remnant of umbilical cord
| Español | ombligo, pupo, pupu |
|---|---|
| 한국어 | 배꼽 baekkop |
| 日本語 | 臍 heso |
| 中文 | 肚臍 /肚脐 dùqí, 肚臍眼 /肚脐眼 dùqíyǎn |
| हिन्दी | नाभि nābhi, नाफ़ nāf |
| Kiswahili | kitovu |
| Português | umbigo |
| Français | nombril, ombilic |
| Deutsch | Bauchnabel, Nabel |
| Italiano | ombelico, onfalo |
| Ελληνικά | αφαλός m ομφαλός afalós |
| Română | buric |
| Русский | пупо́к pupók, пуп pup |
| Tiếng Việt | rốn, rún |
| العربية | سُرَّة surra |
| עברית | טַבּוּר tabúr, פופיק púpik |
Talk about this word "navel." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/navel. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026. navel. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/navel "navel." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/navel.Cite this
@misc{navel_2026,
title = {navel},
howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
year = {2026},
url = {https://micwyn.com/word/navel},
urldate = {2026-11-06}
}
