Etymology Dictionary

NAVE (1),  the central portion or hub of a wheel, through which the axle passes.  (E.)   M.E. naue (with u = v), Chaucer, C. T. 7848 [not 7938].—A.S. nafu, nafa; Ælfred, tr. of Beothius, b. iv. pr. 6, cap. xxxix. § 7. + Du. naaf. + Icel. nöf. + Dan. nav. + Swed. naf. + G. nabe. + Skt. nábhi, the navel, the nave of a wheel, the centre.   β. The Skt. word is supposed to be derived from nabh, to burst; hence the sense of swelling or projection easily results; similarly breast is connected with E. burst.   'The navel... appears at the first period of life as a button or small projection;' Wedgwood.   Der. nav-el, q.v.   From the same root, nebula, nimbus, &c.

NAVE (2),  the middle or body of a church.  (F.,—L.)   In Phillips, World of Words, ed. 1706.   Spelt nef in Addison, Travels in Italy, description of the church of St. Justina in Padua.—F. nef, 'a ship; also, the body of a church;' Cot.—Low Lat. nauem, acc. of nauis, the body of a church.   The similitude by which the church of Christ is likened to a ship tossed by waves was formerly common.   See my note to P. Plowman, C. xi. 32, where I cite the passage from Augustine about 'nauis, i.e. ecclesia;' S. Aug. Sermo lxxv. cap. iii. ed. Migne, v. 475.—Lat. nauis, a ship. + Gk. ναῦς, a ship. + Skt. nau, a ship, boat. + A.S. naca, a boat; Grein, ii. 270. + Icel. nökkvi, a boat. + G. nachen, a skiff.   β. All formed (with suffixes -wa or -ka) from a base na, for older sna, signifying to 'swim,' or 'float;' cf. Lat. nare, to swim, Gk. νάειν, to flow.—✔SNA, SNU, to flow, swim, float; cf. Skt. sná, to bathe, snu, to flow.   Der. nav-al, q.v., nau-ti-c-al, q.v., nau-ti-lus, q.v., argo-naut, q.v., nav-ig-ate (see navigation), nav-y.   From the same root are nai-ad, ne-re-id, nau-sea, a-ner-oid; perhaps snake; perhaps adder.