Navigate

How to spell navigate

8 letters · 3 syllables

How to pronounce navigate

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does navigate mean?

1. verbTo plan and follow a route through an area, or to find one's way through something complex.

Navigate in a sentence

• The new app helps drivers navigate unfamiliar city streets.

• Learning to navigate the tax forms took her most of the weekend.

Where does navigate come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word comes from the Latin navigare, meaning 'to sail' or 'to steer a ship', which was built from navis, the Latin word for 'ship', combined with agere, meaning 'to drive' or 'to lead'. So at its literal root it described the act of driving a ship across water. English adopted it in the late 1500s, originally in the strict nautical sense of sailing or directing a vessel, before broadening to cover steering any vehicle and, more figuratively, finding one's way through a complex situation. The same navis root sails on inside the word 'navy' and even 'nave', the central part of a church whose long shape reminded people of an upturned hull. Remembering that 'navi' means 'ship' helps fix the single -v- and the i before the g, the spot where writers sometimes hesitate.

How the word is built

• navig- (from Latin navigare: to sail, itself from navis 'ship'
• agere 'to drive')
• -ate (verb suffix)