Etymology

navigate

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Today it means: To plan, control and record the position and course of a vehicle, ship, aircraft, etc., on a journey; to follow a planned course. Full definition →

Latin nāvigātus ← Proto-Indo-European *néh₂us
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The story

  1. Proto-Indo-European · derived from*néh₂us“boat”
  2. Latin · borrowed fromnāvigātus
  3. English todaynavigate

First attested in 1588; borrowed from Latin nāvigātus, the perfect passive participle of nāvigō (see -ate (verb-forming suffix)), from nāvis (“ship”) + -igō, from Proto-Indo-European *néh₂us (“boat”).

Words from the same roots

Proto-Indo-European*néh₂us all →

navynacellenavicular

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.