navigable

[ nav-i-guh-buhl ]

adjective

1. deep and wide enough to provide passage to ships:

   a navigable channel.

2. capable of being steered or guided, as a ship, aircraft, or missile.
3. Computers. designed or arranged in a way that facilitates moving from web page to web page or from one section to another on a website.

navigable

/ ˈnævɪɡəbəl /

adjective

1. wide, deep, or safe enough to be sailed on or through

   a navigable channel

2. capable of being steered or controlled

   a navigable raft

Derived Forms

• ˌnavigaˈbility, noun
• ˈnavigably, adverb

Other Words From

• nav·i·ga·bil·i·ty [nav-i-g, uh, -, bil, -i-tee], nav·i·ga·ble·ness noun
• nav·i·ga·bly adverb
• non·nav·i·ga·bil·i·ty noun
• non·nav·i·ga·ble adjective
• non·nav·i·ga·ble·ness noun
• non·nav·i·ga·bly adverb
• un·nav·i·ga·bil·i·ty noun
• un·nav·i·ga·ble adjective
• un·nav·i·ga·ble·ness noun
• un·nav·i·ga·bly adverb

Word History and Origins

Origin of navigable¹

First recorded in 1520–30; from Latin nāvigābilis, equivalent to nāvigā(re) “to sail” ( navigate ) + -bilis -ble

Example Sentences

About five years ago, the Congo Basin research center began installing a network of water-monitoring stations to address the “severe lack of basic knowledge” about the river’s main navigable channels, which often serve as roads.

From MIT Technology Review

Big Thicket is also a gateway to some 313 miles of navigable waterways, including three designated paddling trails through cypress sloughs, rivers, creeks, and oxbow lakes.

From Outside Online

The British had landed five days earlier near the head of navigable waters on the Patuxent River, southeast of Washington.

From Washington Post

At the highest navigable point of the Congo River, thick jungle creates an impenetrable wall of green around a large island.

From The Daily Beast

This one literally takes up four corners on Rue Sherbrooke, all navigable via underground routes.

From The Daily Beast

The title to the bed of all lakes, ponds, and navigable rivers to the ordinary high-water mark is vested in the states.

From Project Gutenberg

The distance from the navigable waters of the Missouri to the navigable waters of the Columbia is less than three hundred miles.

From Project Gutenberg

The river has a deeper channel than the Missouri, and is navigable through the summer months.

From Project Gutenberg

It is situated at the mouth of the Yangtse-Kiang, the largest river of Asia, navigable for fifteen hundred miles.

From Project Gutenberg

On our right is a mile-long channel leading to South Walsham Broad, part of which is navigable and part private.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• passable