Nāv'i-gā'tion, n.

n. [Lat. navigatio, Fr. navigation, Sp. navegacion, navigation, It. navigazione.]

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, &c., on the surface of the globe, by the principles of geometry and astronomy.

☞ The management of the sails, rudder, &c., or the working of the ship generally, belongs rather to seamanship than to navigation, though essential to the practice of the latter. 3. Means of navigation; vessels; shipping. Aerial navigation, the sailing or floating in the air by means of balloons.—Inland or internal navigation, the passing of boats or small vessels on rivers, lakes, or canals, in the interior of a country; conveyance by boats or vessels in the interior of a country.