navigableadj.n.
/ˈnavᵻɡəbl/, U.S. /ˈnævəɡəb(ə)l/ A. adj.† 3. Of transit or passage from one place to another: involving navigation. Obsolete.† 4. Nautical, maritime, naval. Obsolete. rare.
1. Able to be navigated; allowing the passage of ships or boats.† c. Of a place: surrounded by water in which a vessel can sail; accessible by water. Obsolete.† d. In extended use. Cf. unnavigable adj. 1b. Obsolete.
a. Of a sea, lake, or other body of open water. Also of a strait or sea-channel.
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > travel by water > [adjective] > navigable > of the sea
navigablea1527
a1527 R. Thorne in R. Hakluyt Divers Voy. (1582) sig. D2 v To attempt, if our Seas Northwarde bee nauigable to the Pole, or no.
1553 R. Eden in tr. S. Münster Treat. Newe India Pref. sig. Ajv Yf..the North sea were not nauigable by reason of extreme cold & Ise.
1603 P. Holland tr. Plutarch Morals 151 The sea [yieldeth itself] navigable to everie one that will.
1697 J. Dryden tr. Virgil Æneis i, in tr. Virgil Wks. 210 From aloft, Almighty Jove surveys Earth, Air, and Shoars, and navigable Seas.
1716 A. Pope tr. Homer Iliad II. viii. 66 Thence his broad Eye..surveys, The Town, the Tents, and navigable Seas.
1840 J. H. Frere Birds 89 Beyond the navigable seas, Amongst the fierce Antipodes, There lies a lake.
1910 Encycl. Brit. I. 955/1 The Labyrinth Island off the S.W. coast of the South Andaman, through which is the safe navigable Elphinstone Passage.
1991 Motorboat & Yachting June 106/3 Between the original Zuyder Zee shoreline and the Flevoland polders are navigable meers or lakes known as the Randmeren.
b. Of a river, canal, or other waterway. Also with for.
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > travel by water > [adjective] > navigable > of rivers or waterways
navigalc1475
navigable1530
1530 J. Palsgrave Lesclarcissement 319/1 Navygable, a water able to be sayled or rowed in, nauigable.
1555 R. Eden tr. Peter Martyr of Angleria Decades of Newe Worlde f. 250v They determyned to brynge a nauigable trench vnto the ryuer of Nilus.
1593 J. Norden Speculum Brit.: Cornwall (1728) 98 The towne seateth nere the nauigable Tamar.
a1661 W. Brereton Trav. (1844) 6 A fair navigable river which will carry as great a ship as can sail.
1680 R. Morden Geogr. Rectified (1685) 120 Here the Danube begins first to be Navigable.
1735 G. Berkeley Querist §381 The use of slaves in repairing high roads, making rivers navigable.
1776 A. Smith Inq. Wealth of Nations I. i. iii. 24 The plantations have constantly followed either the sea coast or the banks of the navigable rivers. View more context for this quotation
1835 Penny Cycl. III. 176/2 The Avon..is navigable from Stratford for vessels of about 40 tons burden.
1878 T. H. Huxley Physiography (ed. 2) 3 At Lechlade..the Thames ceases to be navigable.
1910 Encycl. Brit. I. 517/1 The Murray is navigable for small steamers from this town to its mouth.
1998 Canal Boat & Inland Waterways June 22/1 Before the mine could be pumped dry, a £20m project had to be completed, including the replacement of 3km of canal with navigable river.
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > travel by water > [adjective] > navigable > accessible by vessels
navigable1569
1569 E. Fenton tr. P. Boaistuau Certaine Secrete Wonders Nature f. 69 The sea so swelled, that it brake not only bulwarks and rampiers, but also..made all the hauen townes no lesse nauigable, than the open and main sea.
?1573 L. Lloyd Pilgrimage of Princes f. 22 Mount Atho[s] was made of Zerxes Nauigable, euen vnto the sea.
1625 N. Carpenter Geogr. Delineated ii. vii. 122 An incomparable great Iland.., navigable round about.
1649 A. Ross Life Mahomet in tr. Alcoran 413 In Navigation we must know, not only what places are Navigable, but also what are not.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > love > friendliness > [adjective] > not hostile or at variance
friendlyOE
threatless1606
navigable1611
1611 F. Beaumont & J. Fletcher Philaster v. i Is the Court Navigable, and the presence struck With Flags of friendship? if not, we are thy Castle And this man sleeps.
e. Of terrain or an overland route: able to be traversed, crossable. Also (in later use) of an airspace.As the verb navigate was used in the 17th and 18th centuries exclusively of vessels (see navigate v.), quots. 1611, 1696 should be regarded as uses with the sense ‘allowing the passage of ships or boats’, as part of a hyperbolic statement.
ΚΠ
1611 Bible (King James) 2 Macc. v. 21 Hee departed in all haste into Antiochia, weening in his pride to make the land nauigable, and the Sea passable by foot: such was the haughtinesse of his minde. View more context for this quotation
1696 Cornish Comedy iv. iii. 33 Tis easier to make the high Alps Navigable, or stop the raging motions of the Winds or Seas, than to divert or rather quench my Love.]
1893 Harper's Mag. Oct. 668/1 As it rarely happens that any wheeled vehicle invades this region, we seldom find a village with a navigable road traversing it.
1940 M. Tornich Radius Action Aircraft App. A. 87 Air routes have been established throughout the United States known as the Civil Airways. These are navigable air spaces suitable for intersection or foreign commerce and extending ten miles either side of a line joining the airports included along the route.
2000 Ralph 7 July 73/1 It's an absurdly luxurious resort, navigable by walkway, monorail or launch.
2. † a. Of a vessel: able to be sailed. Also of a vessel or its condition: fit for sailing, seaworthy. Also in extended use of a navy. Obsolete. rare.
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > travel by water > vessel, ship, or boat > vessel with reference to qualities or attributes > [adjective] > seaworthy or stable
navigable1535
snugc1595
stout1622
stiff1627
wholesome1627
seaworthy1807
1535 in H. Ellis Orig. Lett. Eng. Hist. (1827) 2nd Ser. II. 74 His Navy was not navigable thowgh he wold have departid thens.
1627 G. Hakewill Apologie ii. viii. 123 For the better supporting of navigable vessells.
1809 N. Pinkney Trav. South of France 31 Two or three ships..sound, and in the best navigable condition.
b. Of a balloon or airship: able to be steered; dirigible. Now rare.
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > air or space travel > a means of conveyance through the air > balloons and airships > [adjective] > that can be steered
navigable1783
dirigible1881
1783 in S. Stubelius Balloon (1960) 151 We have received a prodigious number of letters relative to the aerostatic machine of Mess. de Montgolfier. Some of these propose methods for rendering this machine truly navigable.
1835 Mechanics' Mag. 15 Aug. 374/2 This has been the case with steam-carriages, steam-boats, and other machines, and why should a navigable balloon be excepted?
1860 Brit. Patent 1598 1 An improved navigable balloon or aerostatic ship.
1887 Nature 13 Jan. 260/1 Captain Renard has recently sent in to the French Academy an account of his experiments with his so-called navigable balloon, La France, at Meudon.
1903 Edinb. Rev. Apr. 334 The first serious attempt to build a navigable balloon was that of Henry Giffard, in 1852.
1908 H. G. Wells War in Air ii. 41 There were several navigable gas air-ships, not to mention balloons, in the air.
1910 Encycl. Brit. I. 269/1 A very important development of military ballooning is the navigable balloon.
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > travel by water > [adjective] > navigable > of passage from place to place
navigable1570
1570 J. Dee in H. Billingsley tr. Euclid Elements Geom. Math. Præf. sig. diiijv The arte of nauigation, demonstrateth how..a sufficient ship, betwene any two places (in passage Nauigable) assigned: may be conducted.
1632 W. Lithgow Totall Disc. Trav. ii. 60 In this meane while of our nauigable passage, the Captaine..espied a Saile comming from Sea.
1665 T. Herbert Some Years Trav. (new ed.) 36 From Suez..where several attempts have been made to cut such a Sluice or Channel as should give Ships a navigable and free passage from the Mediterranean thither.
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > travel by water > [adjective]
navigable1597
society > travel > travel by water > vessel, ship, or boat > [adjective]
shippish1530
marine1551
navigable1597
marinal1620
navigatory1650
classical1656
navicular1656
1597 J. Payne Royall Exchange 33 In wch. navigable arte I spent the pryme of myne yeres.
1642 J. Howell Instr. Forreine Travell xiii. 165 It will be a wonderfull thing to see what a..huge Navigable power that State in come too.
1645 J. Howell Epistolæ Ho-elianæ vi. xl. 62 What a mighty Navigable power the Hollander is com to.
1724 R. Welton Substance Christian Faith 397 The particular engagements which those of the navigable profession lay under.
1857 Trans. Michigan Agric. Soc. 8 731 If they can coax Uncle Sam to pier the outlet of that Lake and make it a splendid harbor for navigable purposes.
B. n.
A navigable balloon or airship; a dirigible. Now rare (historical).
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > air or space travel > a means of conveyance through the air > balloons and airships > [noun] > airship
ship1679
airship1817
air sailor1834
navigable1882
dirigible1885
Zeppelin1896
aeronat1903
steerable1908
Zepp1914
vessel1915
1882 W. N. Hutchinson in United Service Mag. 2 262 This principle of diminishing buoyancy by diminishing bulk is as applicable to the ordinary balloon..as to the navigable, but..the strain on the material..of the navigable..would be trifling.
1908 H. G. Wells War in Air i. 18 They started ironclads, they started submarines, they started navigables.
1933 H. G. Wells Shape of Things to Come i. §7. 70 That primitive ‘navigable’ the Zeppelin.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2003; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
<
adj.n.a1527