Crossword Dictionary
NAVIGATE
navigate - v
direct carefully and safely; "He navigated his way to the altar"
Synonyms
conn (also con), helm, pilot, steer, course, cover, cross, cut (across), follow, go, pass (over), perambulate, peregrinate, proceed (along), track, transit, travel, traverse
Examples
“Small sailing craft navigate upwards as far as Samarra; above this all navigation is downward, and by raft.â€
“The first to navigate the sea in modern times was an Irish traveller, Costigan by name, in August and September 1835.â€
“Above Bagdad there are no steamers on the Tigris, but sailing vessels of 30 tons and more navigate the river to Samarra and beyond.â€
Etymology
1580s, "move from place to place in a ship, sail" (intrans.), a back-formation from navigation, or else from Latin navigatus, past-participle of navigare "to sail, sail over, go by sea, steer a ship," from navis "ship" (from PIE root *nau- "boat") + root of agere "to set in motion, drive, drive forward" (from PIE root *ag- "to drive, draw out or forth, move"). Transitive sense of "to pass over in a ship or ships, sail on" is from 1640s; that of "to steer, direct, or manage in sailing" is from 1660s. Extended to balloons (1784) and later to aircraft (1901). Related: Navigated; navigating.