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.

  • 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.
  • noun The main body, or middle part, lengthwise, of a church, extending typically from the chief entrance to the choir or chancel.
  • A Middle English contraction of ne have, have not.

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

  • 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.
  • 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.

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

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

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

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

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

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

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

Ultimately from Latin nāvis, via a Romance source.

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).

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