An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language/Annotated/Nabel

by Friedrich Kluge

Nabel, masculine, ‘navel,’ from the equivalent Middle High German nabel, Old High German nabolo, masculine; corresponding to Dutch navel, Anglo-Saxon nafela, English navel, Old Icelandic nafle, masculine, ‘navel’; Gothic *nabala is by chance not recorded. A common Aryan word in the primitive forms nobhelo-, onbhelo-; compare Greek ὀμφαλός, Latin umbilîcus (for *unbilîcus, *nobilîcus), Sanscrit nâbhîla, Old Irish imbliu, ‘navel.’ These words are primitive l- derivatives of Old Aryan nóbkâ, onbhâ, ‘nave, navel,’ appearing in Nabe. In other cases the Old Aryan terms for parts of the body are mostly underived forms (see Herz and Ohr).