Nav`i*ga"tion (?), n. [L. navigatio: cf. F. navigation.]
1.
The act of navigating; the act of passing on water in ships or other vessels; the state of being navigable.
2. (a)
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.
(b)
The management of sails, rudder, etc.; the mechanics of traveling by water; seamanship.
3.
Ships in general.
[Poetic]
Shak.
Aerial navigation, the act or art of sailing or floating in the air, as by means of ballons; aeronautic.<-- now aviation --> -- Inland navigation, Internal navigation, navigation on rivers, inland lakes, etc.
© Webster 1913.