Nabel

See also: nabel

German

Etymology

From Middle High German nabel, nabele, from Old High German nabalo, from Proto-West Germanic *nabulō, from Proto-Germanic *nabalô, ultimatively from Proto-Indo-European *h₃nóbʰōl.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈnaːbəl/

• Audio:

  (file)

Noun

Nabel m (strong, genitive Nabels, plural Nabel)

1. (anatomy) navel; bellybutton
2. (figurative) centre; middle

   Nabel der Welt ― centre of the world

Usage notes

• (navel): Although the simplex is not rare, the commoner word in contemporary German is the compound Bauchnabel.

Declension

Declension of Nabel [masculine, strong]

	singular			plural
	indef.	def.	noun	def.	noun
nominative	ein	der	Nabel	die	Nabel
genitive	eines	des	Nabels	der	Nabel
dative	einem	dem	Nabel	den	Nabeln
accusative	einen	den	Nabel	die	Nabel

Derived terms

• entnabeln
• Bauchnabel
• Nabel der Welt
• Nabelschnur
• Nabelschwein (“peccary, javelina”)

Further reading

• “Nabel” in Duden online
• “Nabel” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache
• “Nabel” in Uni Leipzig: Wortschatz-Lexikon
• “Nabel” in Deutsches Wörterbuch von Jacob und Wilhelm Grimm, 16 vols., Leipzig 1854–1961.