navew Now rare.
(ˈneɪvjuː)
Also 6–7 nauew(e, 6 naueu, 8 naphew.
[a. F. *naveu, obs. var. of naveau (now only dial.), OF. navel, -iel:—*nāpellum, f. L. nāp-um (nāpus) nape n.3 Cf. navet1.]
The rape (Brassica napus) or coleseed (B. campestris); a plant of this kind.
| 1533 Elyot Cast. Helthe (1541) 28 b, Navews do not nouryshe so moche as rapes, but they be even as wyndye. 1563 T. Hill Art Garden. (1593) 144 And the propertie of the place doth change the Nauew into a Rape [= turnip], and the rape contrariwise into a Nauew. 1620 Venner Via Recta vii. 136, I suppose the Nauewe to be a little dryer then the Turnep. 1678 Salmon Pharm. Lond. i. vii. 149 Of sweet Navew. The Seed is Alexipharmick. 1733 Miller Gard. Dict. (ed. 2), Napus, the Navew or French Turnip. 1796 Withering Brit. Plants III. 591 B. Napus, Wild Navew. 1865 Gosse Land & Sea 7 The navew, loose and sprawling, but bright in hue. |
| attrib. 1611 Florio, Nauone, a kind of rape, a Nauew roote. 1658 Rowland tr. Moufet's Theat. Ins. 1090 They are much delighted with Navew seeds. 1766 Museum Rust. VI. 273 Sown in common with rape-seed, or more properly, wild navew-seed. |
† b. navew gentle, the cultivated variety of rape.
Obs.| 1578 Lyte Dodoens 595 Some do also cal it..in English, Nauet, and Nauew gentle. 1607 Topsell Four-f. Beasts (1658) 102 Likewise Navew-gentil and Oleander, kill the Hart. 1655 Moufet & Bennet Health's Improv. (1746) 322 Navews, especially Napus Sativus, called in English Navew Gentle. 1736 Ainsworth Lat. Dict., Napus.., navew [1783 naphew] gentle, or long rapes. |