navigation

noun

nav·​i·​ga·​tion ˌna-və-ˈgā-shən How to pronounce navigation (audio)
1
: the act or practice of navigating
2
: the science of getting ships, aircraft, or spacecraft from place to place
especially : the method of determining position, course, and distance traveled
3
: ship traffic or commerce
navigational adjective
navigationally adverb

Examples of navigation in a Sentence

If you're going to be a good sailor you need to master navigation. I don't mind driving if you're willing to do the navigation. Our new car has an onboard navigation system. Navigation becomes more difficult further upriver. There are back and forward buttons for easier browser navigation.
Recent Examples on the Web That both of us were in the car, waiting on my caramel cloud iced coffee, navigation set for a destination 2 1/2 hours away, sunglasses on, gas tank full, windshield clean, and both content is what was important. Susan Vollenweider, Kansas City Star, 6 Mar. 2024 Effective navigation of these regulations is essential for ensuring security and privacy compliance. David Balaban, Forbes, 1 Mar. 2024 The voice assistant handles everything from navigation duties, like entering addresses or finding your closest Starbucks, to modifying in-car settings. Tim Stevens, The Verge, 1 Mar. 2024 Odysseus experienced navigation issues in the hours leading up to its touchdown on the moon’s surface last Thursday. Jackie Wattles, CNN, 28 Feb. 2024 The tech giant started working on a car around 2014, setting its sights on a fully autonomous electric vehicle with a limousine-like interior and voice-guided navigation. Mark Gurman, Fortune, 27 Feb. 2024 The spacecraft made a nail-biting descent to the lunar surface on Thursday, with a last-minute software patch to make up for malfunctioning navigation sensors. Marina Koren, The Atlantic, 24 Feb. 2024 Odysseus was commanded to make an additional orbit of the moon while engineers hurriedly wrote and tested software patches to integrate the NASA system into the lander's navigation algorithms. William Harwood, CBS News, 24 Feb. 2024 Lunar update Hours before Odie’s landing, the spacecraft experienced an unexpected navigation systems issue that might have prevented a safe touchdown. Ashley Strickland, CNN, 24 Feb. 2024

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'navigation.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

First Known Use

1547, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of navigation was in 1547

Dictionary Entries Near navigation

Cite this Entry

“Navigation.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/navigation. Accessed 19 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

navigation

noun
nav·​i·​ga·​tion ˌnav-ə-ˈgā-shən How to pronounce navigation (audio)
1
: the act or practice of navigating
2
: the science of getting ships, aircraft, or spacecraft from place to place
especially : the method of figuring out position, course, and distance traveled
navigational
-shnəl How to pronounce navigation (audio)
-shən-ᵊl
adjective

More from Merriam-Webster on navigation

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
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