nave

1 of 2

noun (1)

ˈnāv 

: the hub of a wheel

nave

2 of 2

noun (2)

: the main part of the interior of a church

especially : the long narrow central hall in a cruciform church that rises higher than the aisles flanking it to form a clerestory

Examples of nave in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Noun

For each name, a candle was carried down the center aisle of the cathedral to the front of the nave and placed on a table next to flowers. —Kate Selig, New York Times, 7 Jan. 2025

One morning the four of us climbed the bell tower of the Monolithic church in Saint-Emilion, a medieval marvel, then descended, following a guide, into the subterranean nave and catacombs. —Jo Rodgers, Condé Nast Traveler, 16 Dec. 2024

The nave of Notre-Dame on June 28, 2017 (left) and on November 29, 2024 (right). —Joshua Berlinger, CNN, 7 Dec. 2024

The painstaking restoration of Notre Dame involved the labor of hundreds of specialized artisans who refashioned everything from the lead sheets used to form the nave’s peaked roof to vital portions of stone masonry, CBS reported. —Martin Lerma, Robb Report, 16 Dec. 2024

Word History

Etymology

Noun (1)

Middle English nave, naff, going back to Old English nafu (also nafa, masculine n-stem), going back to Germanic *naƀō- (whence also Old Saxon nava "nave, hub," Middle Dutch nave, Old High German naba, Old Icelandic nǫf "fastening by which beams of a log house are held together at the corner, nave of a wheel"), going back to Indo-European *h₃nob^h-eh₂, whence also Latvian naba "navel, nave of a wheel," Sanskrit nābhā- (in the personal name Nā́bhānédiṣṭaḥ "one closely related"), and with variant stem formations Old Prussian nabis "navel, nave," Sanskrit nábhyam "nave of a wheel" (Indo-European *h₃nob^h-i̯o-), Old Danish naff, neuter, "nave," Danish, Swedish & Norwegian nav, Avestan nāfa- "navel, origin, blood relationship" (Indo-European *h₃nob^h-o-), Sanskrit nā́bhiḥ "nave, navel, midpoint, origin, kinship (Indo-European *h₃nob^h-i-)

Note: Compare navel.

Noun (2)

Medieval Latin navis, from Latin, ship; akin to Old English nōwend sailor, Greek naus ship, Sanskrit nau

First Known Use

Noun (1)

before the 12th century, in the meaning defined above

Noun (2)

1673, in the meaning defined above

Kids Definition

nave

1 of 2 noun

ˈnāv 

: the hub of a wheel

nave

2 of 2 noun

: the long central main part of a church