Non-Skeptical Omphaloskepsism

So, what have I been doing for the last couple of weeks? I have definitely not been busy with omphaloskepsism (see 7/28 blog). Several things have been going on (an event on the 14th, an event on the 21st, and an event on the 22nd). And on the 12th I came down with some malady that has been both low-level and long-lasting. Not sick enough to feel missing the events was unavoidable, so never having enough time I can take off to get fully healthy. Navel-gazing would have been welcome.


Speaking of navels, how did we end up with two words spelled very much alike and yet very different in meaning? The word navel (with an e) is defined as “the small scar, usually a depression in the middle of the abdomen, marking the place where the umbilical cord was attached to the fetus.” I didn’t realize most people have “innies”. So a little research was warranted. According to chacha.com 90% of the population have “innies.” I found numerous other references, but the only source ever cited was chacha.com.

In researching this important item, I encountered a report of a survey (at http://www.abc.net.au/science/k2/lint/results.htm) that, based on 4799 respondents, 66% of whom had belly button lint, 96% of those with belly button lint have an “innie”.

Where did the word navel come from? It appeared in Middle English having come from the Old English word nafela, which my dictionary says is “akin” to the Greek word nabel. According to etymonline.com, nafela is presumed to come from the Proto-Germanic word nabalan, and it bases that presumption on the existence in other Germanic languages of similar words (comparing the Old Norse nafli, the Old Frisian navla, the Middle Dutch navel, the Old High German nabalo, and the German nabel). Which leads to the question, what is Old Frisian? Old Frisian is a language akin to English that was spoken on the North Sea coast of modern Netherlands and Germany before 1500. If that’s not enough, etymonline continues a lengthy exposition on navels with the fact that it was “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]”

I think that’s as far as I want to look into navels. Where did the word naval come from and why is it so similar?

The word naval, defined as of, having, characteristic of, or for a navy, its ships, personnel, etc., comes from the Latin. In French the word is naval, and in Latin it is navalis, from the Latin word navis, which is the word for a ship in Latin. Disagreeably ignoring the French, etymonline.com says naval came directly from the Latin around 1600.

Short and simple for naval. Interestingly, since I have a few words, navis is also the root for the word nave, which refers to that part of a church which is between the side aisles and extends from the chancel to the principal entrance, forming the main part of the building. Nave came to English from Latin through either Spanish or Italian. Its path is uncertain, but its first us isn’t: 1673. Apparently a church built in 1673 resembled a ship.

Enough nave or naval or navel gazing for one day.