Navel

//ˈneɪvəl// noun, verb

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    The indentation or bump remaining in the abdomen of placental mammals where the umbilical cord was attached before birth.
  2. 2
    a scar where the umbilical cord was attached wordnet
  3. 3
    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"

  4. 4
    the center point or middle of something wordnet
  5. 5
    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."

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  1. 6
    An eye on the underside of a carronade for securing it to a carriage. historical
Verb
  1. 1
    To be in the middle of a landscape. literary, poetic

    "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; […]"

Etymology

Etymology 1

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), Kurdish navik, Sanskrit नाभि (nābhi)), diminutive of *h₃nebʰ-. Doublet of omphalos. More at nave.

Etymology 2

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), Kurdish navik, Sanskrit नाभि (nābhi)), diminutive of *h₃nebʰ-. Doublet of omphalos. More at nave.

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