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navigation

1. The act of navigating; the act of passing on water in ships or other vessels; the state of being navigable.

2. The science or art of conducting ships or vessels from one place to another, including, more especially, the method of determining a ship's position, course, distance passed over, etc, on the surface of the globe, by the principles of geometry and astronomy. The management of sails, rudder, etc.; the mechanics of traveling by water; seamanship.

3. Ships in general. Aerial navigation, the act or art of sailing or floating in the air, as by means of ballons; aeronautic. Inland navigation, internal navigation, navigation on rivers, inland lakes, etc.

Origin: L. Navigatio: cf. F. Navigation.