navel
/ˈneɪvəl/
More pronunciations (1)Fewer pronunciations
Southern US/ˈneɪbəl/
navel noun: the indentation or bump remaining in the abdomen of placental mammals where the umbilical cord was attached before birth.
Noun
navel (plural navels)
- 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 Comus1637, John Milton, A Mask presented at Ludlow Castle, 1634 - Sweeter than the muſk of Tatar, the morning breeze from the navel of every flower raviſhed perfume.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
- Within the navel of this hideous wood,
- 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.1981, Peter K. Thor, Edward V. Jesse, Economic Effects of Terminating Federal Marketing Orders for California-Arizona Oranges
- An eye on the underside of a carronade for securing it to a carriage.
Verb
navel (third-person singular simple present navels, present participle (US) naveling or (UK) navelling, simple past and past participle (US) naveled or (UK) 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; […]1818, Lord Byron, “Canto IV”, in Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage. Canto the Fourth, London: John Murray, […], →OCLC, stanza CLXXIII, page 89
- Within the shade a ruined temple stands / To sight conspicuous, navelled in the pines, / Speaking of Grecian art, since Vandal hands / Defaced her structures, and despoiled her shrines.1819, J[eremiah] H[olmes] Wiffen, “Aspley Wood”, in Aonian Hours; and Other Poems, London: Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown, canto II, stanza LXII, page 102
navel meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu
navel in Hindi
- remnant of umbilical cord
- नाभि nābhi, नाफ़ nāf
navel in Tamil
- remnant of umbilical cord
- தொப்புள் toppuḷ, கொப்பூழ் koppūḻ, பொக்குள் pokkuḷ
navel in Marathi
- the navel
- नाभी nābhī, बेंबी bembī
navel in Urdu
- remnant of umbilical cord
- نابھی nābhi, ناف nāf
More languagesFewer languages
- navel in Bengali
- নাভি nabhi
- navel in Telugu
- నాభి nābhi, బొడ్డు boḍḍu
- navel in Malayalam
- പൊക്കിൾ pokkiḷ
- navel in Kannada
- ನಾಭಿ nābhi
- navel in Punjabi
- ਧੁੰਨੀ dhunnī
- navel in Gujarati
- નાભિ nābhi, ડૂંટી ḍū̃ṭī
- navel in Sanskrit
- नाभि nābhi, नाभी nābhī
- navel in Assamese
- নাই nai, নাভি nabhi, নাড়ী nari
- navel in Nepali
- नाइटो nāiṭo
- navel in Pashto
- د نامه غوټه d'nāmǝ ǧôṭa, نو nu
- navel in Tagalog
- pusod
- navel in Arabic
- سُرَّة surra
- navel in Malay
- pusat, pusar
- navel in Indonesian
- pusat, pusar
- navel in Persian
- ناف nâf
- navel in Thai
- สะดือ sà-dʉʉ
- navel in Vietnamese
- rốn, rún
- navel in Myanmar
- ချက် hkyak
- Kashmiri
- ناب nāb, نان nān, ناف nāf, توٗن tūn
Examples of navel in a sentence
- We sat alfresco on the edge of a “square,” in reality a pond of cobbly mud with a plinth plonked in its navel […]2004, David Mitchell, Cloud Atlas, London: Sceptre (Hodder and Stoughton), →ISBN:
- The crimson berry tree navelled upon this court / Twinkles a coded message, a wind-sun tingling chord, / Curious round her foot saunters one blue jay: […]1965, C[ecil] Day Lewis, “Madrigal for Lowell House”, in The Room & Other Poems, London: Jonathan Cape, page 53:
Synonyms of navel
Forms of navel
| Noun | |
|---|---|
| plural | navels |
| alternative form (obsolete) | navil |
| Verb | |
| third-person singular present | navels |
| present participle US | naveling |
| present participle UK | navelling |
| past participle US | naveled |
| past US | naveled |
| past participle UK | navelled |
| past UK | navelled |
Origin of navel
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.
Words formed from navel
Phrases with navel
Words that rhyme with navel
Questions about navel
- What does navel mean?
- Navel means the indentation or bump remaining in the abdomen of placental mammals where the umbilical cord was attached before birth.
- What is navel in Hindi?
- Navel in Hindi is नाभि (nābhi), नाफ़ (nāf). See Navel meaning in Hindi.
- How do you use navel in a sentence?
- We sat alfresco on the edge of a “square,” in reality a pond of cobbly mud with a plinth plonked in its navel […]
- What part of speech is navel?
- Navel can be a noun or a verb.
- How do you pronounce navel?
- Navel is pronounced /ˈneɪvəl/.
- What is the plural of navel?
- The plural of navel is navels.
Words near navel in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: navel (page history and authors); नाभी (Marathi) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: En-us-naval.ogg.
Cite this entry: “navel.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/navel. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.