- navel
- O.E. nafela, from P.Gmc. *nabalan (cf. O.N. nafli, O.Fris. navla, M.Du. navel, O.H.G. nabalo, Ger. Nabel), from PIE *(o)nobh- "navel" (cf. Skt. nabhila "navel, nave, relationship;" Avestan nafa "navel," naba-nazdishta "next of kin;" Pers. naf; O.Prus. nabis "navel;" Gk. omphalos; O.Ir. imbliu). Cf. also L. umbilicus "navel," source of Sp. ombligo and O.Fr. lombril, lit. "the navel," from l'ombril, which by dissimilation became modern Fr. nombril (12c.). "Navel" words from other roots include Lith. bamba, Skt. bimba- (also "disk, sphere"), Gk. bembix, lit. "whirlpool." O.C.S. papuku, Lith. pumpuras are originally "bud." Considered a feminine sexual center since ancient times, and still in parts of the Middle East, India, and Japan. Even in medieval Europe, it was averred that "[t]he seat of wantonness in women is the navel." [Cambridge bestiary, C.U.L. ii.4.26] Words for it in most languages have a secondary sense of "center." Meaning "center or hub of a country" is attested in Eng. from 1382. To contemplate (one's) navel "meditate" is from 1933; hence navel-gazer (1952). Navel orange attested from 1888.
- Cuzco
- city in Peru, former capital of the Inca Empire, from Quechua (Inca), lit. "navel," in a figurative meaning "center" (of the world, as the navel is the center of the body). Other places known as "navel of the world" include Delphi, Jerusalem, Rome, Easter Island, and Mount Kailash in Tibet.
- umbilical
- "pertaining to the navel," 1540s, from M.L. umbilicalis "of the navel," from L. umbilicus "navel," from PIE *onobh- (source of Gk. omphalos and related to *nobh, source of navel). First record of umbilical cord is from 1753. Umbilicus for "navel" is attested from 1690s but mostly is confined to medical writing.
- nave (2)
- "hub of a wheel," O.E. nafu, from P.Gmc. *nabo-, perhaps connected with the root of navel (q.v.) on notion of centrality (cf. L. umbilicus "navel," also "the end of a roller of a scroll," Gk. omphalos "navel," also "the boss of a shield").
- omphalos
- "sacred stone," 1850, from Gk., lit. "navel," also "hub" (as the center point), from PIE *ombh-alo-, from base *nobh-/*ombh- "navel" (see navel). The name of the rounded stone in the shrine at Delphi, regarded by the ancients as the center of the world.
- omphaloskepsis
- 1925, from omphalo-, from omphalos "navel" (see navel) + -skepsis, from skeptesthai "to reflect, look, view" (see scope (1)). Also omphaloscopy (1931), and used in the sense of "navel-gazer" were omphalopsychic (1892), omphalopsychite (1882).
- Gondwana
- name of a region in north central India, from Skt. gondavana, from vana "forest" + Gonda, name of a Dravidian people, lit. "fleshy navel, outie belly-button." The name was extended by geologists to a series of sedimentary rocks found there (1873), then to identical rocks in other places; the fossils found in this series were used by geologists to reconstruct the ancient southern supercontinent, which was thus called Gondwanaland (1896), from Ger., where it was coined by Ger. geologist Eduard Suess (1831–1914) in 1885.
- belly button
- "navel," 1877, colloquial, from belly + button. Also bellybutton, belly-button.