Dictionary

navigate en · VERB

Pronunciation

• năv′-ĭ-gāt (US)
• (US) audio
• /ˈnæv.ɪ.ɡeɪt/ (US)
• /ˈnæv.ɪ.ɡeɪt/ (UK)

Etymology

First attested in 1588; borrowed from Latin nāvigātus, the perfect passive participle of nāvigō (see -ate (verb-forming suffix)), from nāvis (“ship”) + -igō, from Proto-Indo-European *néh₂us (“boat”).

Meanings

1. (transitive) To plan, control and record the position and course of a vehicle, ship, aircraft, etc., on a journey; to follow a planned course.
   • He navigated the bomber to the Ruhr.
   • Earlier this month, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration began an investigation into four crashes of Teslas operating with a partial-automation system (which can navigate highways and steer the car on city streets but requires a licensed driver to be present), including one in which a pedestrian was killed. In a news release, NHTSA said reduced visibility may have led to the crashes. 2024 December 25, Elaine S. Povich, “Self-driving cars aren’t here yet, but states are getting the rules ready”, in (Please provide the book title or journal name):
2. (intransitive) To give directions, as from a map, to someone driving a vehicle.
   • You drive. I'll navigate.
3. (intransitive) To travel over water in a ship; to sail.
   • We navigated to France in the dinghy.
4. (transitive) To move between web pages, menus, etc. by means of hyperlinks, mouse clicks, or any other mechanism.
   • It was difficult to navigate back to the home page.
5. (ambitransitive, figuratively) To find a way through a difficult situation or process.
   • However, given current sensibilities about individual privacy and data protection, the recording of oral data is becoming increasingly onerous for researchers who are obliged to navigate an often time-consuming and complex series of administrative requirements and corollary review processes in order to be granted ethics clearance. 2019, Li Huang, James Lambert, “Another Arrow for the Quiver: A New Methodology for Multilingual Researchers”, in Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development, →DOI, page 11:
   • Complaints have risen in particular from passengers changing trains, who have observed little or no improvement in their ability to navigate between the station's 13 platforms. 2020 July 29, Paul Stephen, “A new collaboration centred on New Street”, in Rail, page 54:

Forms

Deriveds

unnavigated · astrogate · renavigate · neuronavigate · misnavigate · navigatable

Hyponyms

circumnavigate · negotiate

Relateds

navigator · navy · naval · circumnavigate · navigable · navigation

Translations (50)

bg плавам (travel over water) · es navegar (travel over water) · fi suunnistaa (plan, control) · it dirigere (plan, control) · de die Richtung vorgeben (plan, control) · de surfen (move on the internet) · la gubernō (plan, control) · nl surfen (move on the internet) · mk су́рфа (move on the internet) · cy hwylio (travel over water) · sq Lundrim (travel over water) · mi whakatere (travel over water) · he נִוֵּט (plan, control) · es navegar (move on the internet) · nl navigeren (move on the internet) · fi siirtyä (move on the internet) · nl varen (travel over water) · af navigeer (move on the internet) · it navigare (move on the internet) · de über Wasser fahren (travel over water) · nl navigeren (plan, control) · fr naviguer (move on the internet) · mk корми́лари (travel over water) · mk навиги́ра (plan, control) · it navigare (travel over water) · fi navigoida (travel over water) · la nāvigō (travel over water) · bg навигирам (plan, control) · ca navegar (move on the internet) · fr naviguer (travel over water) · fi navigoida (move on the internet) · sv navigera (travel over water) · sv surfa (move on the internet) · pt navegar (travel over water) · sv navigera (move on the internet) · de steuern (plan, control) · af navigeer (travel over water) · es singlar (travel over water) · bg сърфирам (move on the internet) · no navigere (travel over water) · fi purjehtia (travel over water) · fi ohjata (plan, control) · it seguire (plan, control) · ca navegar (travel over water) · fa ناوبری (move on the internet) · he נִוֵּט (travel over water) · pt navegar (move on the internet) · mk пло́ви (travel over water) · nl navigeren (travel over water) · de navigieren im Internet (move on the internet)