Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun The hub of a wheel.
  • noun The central part of a church, extending from the narthex to the chancel and flanked by aisles.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun The main body, or middle part, lengthwise, of a church, extending typically from the chief entrance to the choir or chancel.
  • To form as a nave; cause to resemble a nave in function or in effect.
  • noun The central part of a wheel, in which the spokes are inserted; the hub. See cuts under felly and hub.
  • noun The navel.
  • A Middle English contraction of ne have, have not.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun The block in the center of a wheel, from which the spokes radiate, and through which the axle passes; -- called also hub or hob.
  • noun obsolete The navel.
  • noun (Arch.) The middle or body of a church, extending from the transepts to the principal entrances, or, if there are no transepts, from the choir to the principal entrance, but not including the aisles.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun A hub of a wheel.
  • noun architecture The middle or body of a church, extending from the transepts to the principal entrances.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun the central area of a church

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Middle English, from Old English nafu; see nobh- in Indo-European roots.]

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Medieval Latin nāvis, from Latin, ship (from its shape); see nāu- in Indo-European roots.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Old English nafu, from Proto-Germanic *nabō (compare Dutch naaf, German Nabe), from Proto-Indo-European *h₃nobh (“navel”) (compare Latin umbō ("shield boss"), Latvian naba, Sanskrit nābha).

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

Ultimately from Latin nāvis, via a Romance source.

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