navel

English

A navel.

Alternative forms

• navil (obsolete)

Etymology

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.

Pronunciation

• enPR: nā'vəl, IPA^(key): /ˈneɪvəl/
• (Southern American English, obsolete) enPR: nā'bəl, IPA^(key): /ˈneɪbəl/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -eɪvəl
• Homophone: naval

Noun

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

   • 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.

Synonyms

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

Derived terms

• contemplate one's navel
• fuzzy navel
• navel gall
• navel-gaze
• navel-gazer
• navel-gazey
• navel gazing
• navel-gazing
• navel orange
• navel point
• navel-string
• navel string
• navel-watching

 

Translations

remnant of umbilical cord

• Adyghe: шдиху (šdixʷu)
• Afrikaans: nawel, naeltjie (af)
• Aklanon: pusod
• Albanian: kërthizë (sq) f
• Amharic: እምብርት (ʾəmbərt)
• Andi: цӏцӏунно (ccʼunno)
• Arabic: سُرَّة f (surra)

  Egyptian Arabic: سرة f (surra)

  Hijazi Arabic: سرّة f (surra, ṣurra)

• Archi: цӏан (cʼan)
• Armenian: պորտ (hy) (port)
• Aromanian: buric
• Assamese: নাই (nai), নাভি (nabhi), নাড়ী (nari)
• Asturian: embeligru (ast) m, ombligu (ast) m
• Avar: цӏину (cʼinu)
• Aymara: kururu
• Azerbaijani: göbək (az)
• Baluchi: ناپگ (nápag)
• Bashkir: кендек (kendek)
• Bau Bidayuh: pisod
• Belarusian: пупо́к m (pupók), пуп m (pup)
• Bengali: নাভি (bn) (nabhi)
• Berber:

  Tashelhit: abuḍ m

• Bislama: nabuton
• Borôro: künabo
• Breton: begel (br)
• Bulgarian: пъп m (pǎp)
• Burmese: ချက် (my) (hkyak)
• Catalan: melic (ca) m, llombrígol (ca) m
• Central Dusun: pusod
• Central Melanau: pused
• Chakma: 𑄚𑄞𑄨 (nābhi)
• Chamicuro: mocho
• Chechen: цӏонга (cʼonga)
• Chepang: तोय्‌
• Cherokee: ᎤᏗᏴᏓᏛᎢ (udiyvdadvi)
• Chichewa: mchombo
• Chinese:

  Cantonese: 肚臍／肚脐 (tou⁵ ci⁴), 肚臍窿／肚脐窿 (tou⁵ ci⁴ lung¹)

  Hakka: 肚臍／肚脐 (tú-chhì), 肚臍窟／肚脐窟 (tú-chhì-fut)

  Hokkien: 肚臍／肚脐 (zh-min-nan) (tō͘-châi), 腹臍／腹脐 (pak-châi)

  Mandarin: 肚臍／肚脐 (zh) (dùqí), 肚臍眼／肚脐眼 (zh) (dùqíyǎn)

• Chuvash: кӑвапа (kăvap̬a)
• Coptic: ϧⲉⲗⲡⲓ f (xelpi)
• Cornish: begel m
• Crimean Tatar: köbek
• Czech: pupek (cs) m
• Danish: navle (da) c
• Dupaningan Agta: pusad
• Dutch: navel (nl) m
• Egyptian: (ẖpꜣ)
• Erzya: почо (počo)
• Esperanto: umbiliko (eo)
• Estonian: naba (et)
• Faroese: nalvi m
• Fijian: vico
• Finnish: napa (fi)
• French: nombril (fr) m
• Friulian: umbriçon m, umbričon, bugnigul m
• Galician: embigo (gl) m, beligo m
• Georgian: ჭიპი (č̣iṗi)
• German: Bauchnabel (de) m, Nabel (de) m
• Greek: αφαλός (el) m (afalós) ομφαλός (el) m (omfalós)

  Ancient: ὀμφαλός m (omphalós)

• Greenlandic: qalaseq
• Guaraní: puru'â
• Gujarati: નાભિ (gu) (nābhi), ડૂંટી f (ḍū̃ṭī)
• Hausa: cibiya
• Hawaiian: piko
• Hebrew: טַבּוּר (he) (tabúr), פופיק (he) m (púpik)
• Hiligaynon: pusod
• Hindi: नाभि (hi) f (nābhi), नाफ़ f (nāf)
• Hungarian: köldök (hu)
• Icelandic: nafli (is) m
• Ido: umbiliko (io)
• Ilocano: puseg
• Indonesian: pusat (id), pusar (id)
• Ingrian: napa
• Ingush: цӏонг (cʼong)
• Iranun: pused
• Irish: imleacán m
• Ishkashimi: ناف (nāf)
• Italian: ombelico (it) m, (unusual) onfalo m
• Japanese: 臍 (ja) (へそ, heso)
• Javanese: tengah (jv)
• Kannada: ನಾಭಿ (kn) (nābhi)
• Kapampangan: pusad, pusud
• Karachay-Balkar: киндик (kindik)
• Kazakh: кіндік (kındık)
• Khmer: ផ្ចិត (km) (phcət)
• Kimaragang: pusod
• Korean: 배꼽 (ko) (baekkop)
• Kumyk: гинник (ginnik)
• Kurdish:

  Northern Kurdish: navik (ku) f

• Kyrgyz: киндик (ky) (kindik)
• Lao: ສາຍບື (lo) (sāi bư̄)
• Latgalian: pupona
• Latin: umbilīcus m
• Latvian: naba f
• Lithuanian: bamba f
• Livonian: nabā
• Lotud: pusod
• Low German: Navel m
• Lule Sami: náhpe
• Macedonian: папок m (papok)
• Malagasy: foitra (mg)
• Malay: pusat, pusar (ms), pusar (ms)
• Malayalam: പൊക്കിൾ (ml) (pokkiḷ)
• Maltese: żokra f
• Mansaka: posod
• Maori: pito, ihonga
• Maranao: posed
• Middle English: navel
• Mongolian: хүйс (mn) (xüjs), хүй (mn) (xüj)
• Nanai: хуйму (hujmu)
• Navajo: atsʼééʼ
• Nepali: नाइटो (nāiṭo)
• Ngarrindjeri: pulanggi
• Nogai: киндик (kindik)
• Norman: nombrîn m (Jersey), naombrin m (Guernsey), nõmbri m (Sark)
• Norwegian: navle m
• Occitan: embonilh (oc), monilh (oc), embonígol (oc)
• Ojibwe: (my navel) indis
• Old Church Slavonic:

  Cyrillic: пѫпъ m (pǫpŭ)

• Old East Slavic: пупъ m (pupŭ)
• Oromo: hadhuura
• Ottoman Turkish: گوبك (göbek), ناف (nâf), سره (surre)
• Pashto: د نامه غوټه (ps) f (d'nāmǝ ǧôṭa), نو (ps) (nu)
• Pennsylvania German: Nawwel m
• Persian: ناف (fa) (nâf)
• Plautdietsch: Nowel m
• Polish: pępek (pl) m
• Portuguese: umbigo (pt) m
• Punjabi: ਧੁੰਨੀ f (dhunnī)
• Quechua: puti, pupu, puputi
• Romanian: buric (ro) n
• Rungus: pusod
• Russian: пупо́к (ru) m (pupók), пуп (ru) m (pup)
• Sabah Bisaya: pusod
• Sanskrit: नाभि (sa) f (nābhi), नाभी (sa) f (nābhī)
• Santali: ᱵᱩᱠᱟᱹ (bukă)
• Sardinian: imbílicu, imbírigu
• Scottish Gaelic: imleag f
• Sebop: pucet
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: пу̏пак m

  Roman: pȕpak (sh) m

• Sicilian: viḍḍicu m
• Slovak: pupok (sk) m
• Slovene: pópek (sl) m
• Somali: xudhur
• Southern Altai: киндик (kindik)
• Spanish: ombligo (es) m
• Swahili: kitovu (sw) class 7/8
• Swedish: navel (sv) c
• Sylheti: ꠘꠣꠁꠝꠥꠠꠣꠟ (naimuṛal)
• Tagal Murut: pusor
• Tagalog: pusod
• Tajik: ноф (nof)
• Tamil: தொப்புள் (ta) (toppuḷ)
• Tarifit: tmiṭ f, taɛebbuṭ f
• Tatar: кендек (tt) (kendek)
• Tausug: pusud
• Tboli: huhed
• Telugu: నాభి (te) (nābhi), బొడ్డు (te) (boḍḍu)
• Tetum: husar
• Thai: สะดือ (th) (sà-dʉʉ)
• Tibetan: ལྟེ་བ (lte ba)
• Timugon Murut: pusor
• Tocharian B: kele
• Tok Pisin: hap bel
• Tooro: omukundi class 3
• Turkish: göbek (tr), göbek deliği
• Turkmen: göbek
• Tuvan: хиндик (xindik)
• Udi: цӏан (c̣an)
• Udmurt: гогы (gogy)
• Ugaritic: 𐎌𐎗 (šr)
• Ukrainian: пупо́к m (pupók), пуп m (pup)
• Urdu: نابھی f (nābhi), ناف f (nāf)
• Uyghur: كىندىك (kindik)
• Uzbek: kindik (uz)
• Venetian: bonigolo m, bonigol, bunigolo m, bunigol, bonigoło
• Veps: naba
• Vietnamese: rốn (vi), rún (vi)
• Vilamovian: nowuł m
• Volapük: numbril
• Võro: naba
• Welsh: bogail m or f
• West Coast Bajau: ponsot
• White Hmong: please add this translation if you can
• Yagnobi: нофа (nofa)
• Yakut: киин (kiin)
• Yami: pesed
• Yiddish: פּופּיק m (pupik), נאָפּל m (nopl)
• Zhuang: saejndw

See also

• innie
• outie

Anagrams

• Alven, Levan, elvan, levan, venal

Dutch

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈnaː.vəl/

• audio

  (file)

• Hyphenation: na‧vel
• Rhymes: -aːvəl

Noun

navel m (plural navels, diminutive naveltje n)

1. navel

Derived terms

• navelpiercing
• navelstreng
• naveltrui

Descendants

• Afrikaans: nawel, nauel

Middle English

Alternative forms

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

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈnaːvəl(ə)/

Noun

navel (plural naveles)

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

Descendants

• English: navel
• Scots: nyvel

References

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

Swedish

Etymology

From Old Norse nafli.

Noun

navel c

1. navel

Declension

Declension of navel
	Singular		Plural
	Indefinite	Definite	Indefinite	Definite
Nominative	navel	naveln	navlar	navlarna
Genitive	navels	navelns	navlars	navlarnas

Anagrams

• alven, elvan, laven, valen