Definitions

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

  • noun The mark on the surface of the abdomen of mammals where the umbilical cord was attached during gestation.
  • noun A central point; a middle.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun In anatomy, a mark or scar in the middle of the belly where the umbilical cord was attached in the fetus; the umbilieus; the omphalos.
  • noun The central point or part of anything; the middle.
  • noun The nave of a wheel.
  • noun In ordnance, same as narel bolt.

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

  • noun (Anat.) A mark or depression in the middle of the abdomen; the umbilicus; called also belly button in humans. See umbilicus.
  • noun The central part or point of anything; the middle.
  • noun (Gun.) An eye on the under side of a carronade for securing it to a carriage.
  • noun a bruise on the top of the chine of the back of a horse, behind the saddle.
  • noun (Her.) Same as Nombril.

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

  • noun anatomy The indentation or bump remaining in the abdomen of mammals where the umbilical cord was attached before birth.
  • noun The central part or point of anything; the middle.

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

  • noun a scar where the umbilical cord was attached
  • noun the center point or middle of something

Etymologies

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

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

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Middle English, navel, navele, from Old English nafela, from Proto-Germanic *nabalô (compare West Frisian nâle, Dutch navel, German Nabel), from Proto-Indo-European *h₃nobʰilos (compare Irish imleac, Latin umbilicus, Ancient Greek ὀμφαλός (omphalós)), diminutive of *h₃nobʰ- (compare English nave). More at nave.

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