From Latin 'navis' (ship), from PIE *neh2u- (boat) — same root as 'navigate,' 'nautical,' and 'nausea.'
The branch of a nation's armed forces that conducts military operations at sea; a fleet of warships.
From Old French 'navie' (fleet of ships), from Latin 'nāvia' (a fleet), from 'nāvis' (ship), from Proto-Indo-European '*neh₂u-' (boat). The PIE root is one of the oldest reconstructible words for watercraft, appearing across most branches of the Indo-European family. English originally used 'navy' to mean simply 'a fleet of ships,' whether military or commercial. The specifically military sense — a nation's seaborne