navigation

/ˈnævəˌgeɪʃən/

/nævɪˈgeɪʃən/

Other forms: navigations

Navigation is all about figuring out how to get somewhere. If you are lost, hopefully your cell phone can act as a navigation device.

You're most likely to come across the noun navigation when you're learning to sail a boat or pilot a ship or airplane. Large vessels that travel long distances often need some help in planning a route and following it, and that's exactly what navigation is all about. The Latin word navigare, "to sail, sail over, go by sea, steer a ship," is at the root of navigation, and it in turn comes from navis, "ship."

Definitions of navigation

1. noun

   the guidance of ships or airplanes from place to place
   synonyms: pilotage, piloting

   types:

   instrument flying

   navigation of an airplane solely by instruments

   astronavigation, celestial navigation

   navigating according to the positions of the stars

   dead reckoning

   navigation without the aid of celestial observations

   type of:

   direction, guidance, steering

   the act of setting and holding a course
2. noun

   ship traffic
   “the channel will be open to navigation as soon as the ice melts”

   type of:

   shipping, transport, transportation

   the commercial enterprise of moving goods and materials
3. noun

   the work of a sailor
   synonyms: sailing, seafaring

   types:

   cabotage

   navigation in coastal waters

   type of:

   employment, work

   the occupation for which you are paid
4. noun

   (computing) the process or action of moving around a website, system, or file