navigate

N1A1V4I1G2A1T1E1
UK/ˈnæv.ɪ.ɡeɪt/

verb

To plan, control and record the position and course of a vehicle, ship, aircraft, etc., on a journey; to follow a planned course.

“You drive. I'll navigate.”

CommonScrabble 12

Meanings

verbnavigate (third-person singular simple present navigates, present participle navigating, simple past and past participle navigated)

present singular third person navigates · participle present navigating · participle past navigated · past navigated

  1. transitiveTo plan, control and record the position and course of a vehicle, ship, aircraft, etc., on a journey; to follow a planned course.

    He navigated the bomber to the Ruhr.

    1 more example

    Earlier this month, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration began an investigation into four crashes of Teslas operating with a partial-automation system (which can navigate highways and steer the car on city streets but requires a licensed driver to be present), including one in which a pedestrian was killed. In a news release, NHTSA said reduced visibility may have led to the crashes.

    2024 December 25, Elaine S. Povich, “Self-driving cars aren’t here yet, but states are getting the rules ready”, in (Please provide the book title or journal name)
  2. intransitiveTo give directions, as from a map, to someone driving a vehicle.

    You drive. I'll navigate.

  3. intransitiveTo travel over water in a ship; to sail.

    We navigated to France in the dinghy.

  4. transitivecomputingTo move between web pages, menus, etc. by means of hyperlinks, mouse clicks, or any other mechanism.

    It was difficult to navigate back to the home page.

  5. ambitransitivefigurativelyTo find a way through a difficult situation or process.

    Complaints have risen in particular from passengers changing trains, who have observed little or no improvement in their ability to navigate between the station's 13 platforms.

    2020 July 29, Paul Stephen, “A new collaboration centred on New Street”, in Rail, page 54
    1 more example

    However, given current sensibilities about individual privacy and data protection, the recording of oral data is becoming increasingly onerous for researchers who are obliged to navigate an often time-consuming and complex series of administrative requirements and corollary review processes in order to be granted ethics clearance.

    2019, Li Huang, James Lambert, “Another Arrow for the Quiver: A New Methodology for Multilingual Researchers”, in Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development, →DOI, page 11

Synonyms & antonyms

verbtravel on water propelled by wind or by other means

Similar

verbact as the navigator in a car, plane, or vessel and plan, direct, plot the path and position of the conveyance

Similar

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Origin

  1. Proto-Indo-European*néh₂us“boat”
  2. Latinnāvigātus
  3. Englishnavigate

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”).

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Afrikaans navigeer, navigeer
  • navigeertravel over water
  • navigeermove on the internet
Bulgarian навигирам, плавам
  • навигирам (navigiram)plan, control
  • плавам (plavam)travel over water
  • сърфирам (sărfiram)move on the internet
Catalan navegar, navegar
  • navegartravel over water
  • navegarmove on the internet
Dutch navigeren, varen
  • navigerenplan, control
  • varentravel over water
  • navigerentravel over water
  • navigerenmove on the internet
  • surfenmove on the internet
Finnish ohjata, suunnistaa
  • ohjataplan, control
  • suunnistaaplan, control
  • purjehtiatravel over water
  • navigoidatravel over water
  • siirtyämove on the internet
  • navigoidamove on the internet
French naviguer, naviguer
  • naviguertravel over water
  • naviguermove on the internet
German die Richtung vorgeben, steuern
  • die Richtung vorgebenplan, control
  • steuernplan, control
  • über Wasser fahrentravel over water
  • surfenmove on the internet
  • navigieren im Internetmove on the internet
Hebrew נִוֵּט, נִוֵּט
  • נִוֵּט (nivvét)plan, control
  • נִוֵּט (nivet)travel over water
Italian seguire, dirigere
  • seguireplan, control
  • dirigereplan, control
  • navigaretravel over water
  • navigaremove on the internet
Latin gubernō, nāvigō
  • gubernōplan, control
  • nāvigōtravel over water
Māori whakatere
  • whakateretravel over water
Norwegian navigere
  • navigeretravel over water
Persian ناوبری
  • ناوبری (nâvbari)move on the internet
Portuguese navegar, navegar
  • navegartravel over water
  • navegarmove on the internet
Spanish navegar, singlar
  • navegartravel over water
  • singlartravel over water
  • navegarmove on the internet
Swedish navigera, surfa
  • navigeratravel over water
  • surfamove on the internet
  • navigeramove on the internet
Welsh hwylio
  • hwyliotravel over water

Rhymes & wordplay

Anagrams

Cite this entry
APA

navigate. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/navigate

MLA

“navigate.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/navigate. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “navigate,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/navigate.

Source: navigate on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.