navy

American  

[nay-vee] / ˈneɪ vi /

noun

• navies
  plural

1. the whole body of warships and auxiliaries belonging to a country or ruler.

2. (often initial capital letter) the complete body of such warships together with their officers and enlisted personnel, equipment, yards, etc., constituting the sea power of a nation.

3. (often initial capital letter) the department of government charged with its management.

4. navy blue.

5. Archaic. a fleet of ships.

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adjective

1. belonging or connected to a navy; naval.

   navy vessels in the harbor;

   a navy officer with combat experience aboard a submarine.

2. of the color navy blue.

   Either tie will look great with your navy suit.

navy British  

/ ˈneɪvɪ /

noun

1. the warships and auxiliary vessels of a nation or ruler

2. (often capital) the branch of a country's armed services comprising such ships, their crews, and all their supporting services and equipment

3. short for navy blue

4. archaic a fleet of ships

5. ( as modifier )

   a navy custom

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• pronavy
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• navies
  plural

Etymology

Origin of navy

First recorded in 1300–50; Middle English navie, from Middle French, from unattested Vulgar Latin navia, equivalent to Latin nāv(is) “ship” + -ia noun suffix ( see -y ³)

Explanation

A navy is a military force made up of boats and ships that are equipped for defense and fighting. If you always get seasick, you might think about joining an army instead of a navy. During a war, a country's navy does the important job of protecting its shores, as well as attacking the enemy's coasts. A navy is made up of battleships, submarines, and smaller vessels, as well as planes that can land on aircraft carriers or on water. The color that's also called navy, a dark blue, was the original color of the British navy. The Latin root of navy is navis, "ship."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

navy navies

The federal authorities have also deployed thousands of members of the navy and the army along with specialised machinery.

From BBC ● Sep. 28, 2026

A Vietnamese fisherman or a Western company looking at sea-floor mining would face the wrath of the Malaysian navy.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 24, 2026

Lt Cdr Ben Brown, commanding officer of the Royal Navy's Bravo Squadron bomb disposal team, added navy disposal experts were continuing to help police with the unexploded "air-dropped bomb".

From BBC ● Sep. 22, 2026

The Coast Guard said it was coordinating its search efforts with the Mexican navy and commercial vessels.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 21, 2026

It would land not far from Bermuda, where the navy would then retrieve it.

From "Reaching for the Moon" by Katherine Johnson

Still, the size of the rockets suggests that any mines fired with them would likely be relatively small and simple, unlike the larger ones navies are accustomed to, he said.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 1, 2026

Until three years ago these kinds of incidents had almost disappeared in this area once notorious for hijackings, following a concerted security operation involving several navies.

From BBC ● Jul. 17, 2026

What’s become apparent, Meade posits, is that control of the oceans through navies is no longer straightforward either.

From MarketWatch ● Apr. 21, 2026

Hans Tino Hansen of the Risk Intelligence firm told AFP the number of warships in western navies equipped for a convoy mission had fallen by 75 percent since 1988.

From Barron's ● Mar. 18, 2026

At the start of the war, all navies had ships with wooden hulls.

From "Lincoln's Last Days: The Shocking Assassination that Changed America Forever" by Bill O'Reilly