Where does “navy” come from?
Navy comes from Middle English nave, from Old French navie, ultimately derived from Proto-Germanic nabō meaning ship, with roots in Proto-Indo-European h₃nebʰ-.
navy (English): A country's entire sea force, including ships and...
Definitions
- A country's entire sea force, including ships and...
Ancestry of “navy”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | Middle English | nave | nave |
| 2 | Old French | navie | navy |
| 3 | Latin | nāvigia | — |
| 4 | Latin | nāvigium | — |
| 5 | Latin | nāvigō | — |
| 6 | Latin | nāvis | — |
| 7 | Proto-Italic | naus | — |
| 8 | German | hinaus | out |
| 9 | German | aus | out; over; finished; done; up; off |
| 10 | Old High German | ūz | out |
| 11 | Proto-West Germanic | *ūt | — |
| 12 | Proto-Germanic | ūt | out, outward |
| 13 | Proto-Indo-European | úd | out, outward |
Words derived from “navy”