Word Confusion: Knave versus Nave

Posted January 27, 2022 by Kathy Davie in Author Resources, Self-Editing, Word Confusions, Writing

Revised as of
14 Jan 2023

Knave versus Nave is an heterograph (a subset of homophone) with a one-letter difference between these two nouns.

Be thou a knave, you would be an unscrupulous man or a lowly servant, or perhaps the jack in a deck of cards.

A nave, however, is primarily that part of a church that holds most of the congregation.

You may want to explore “Naval versus Navel“.

Word Confusions . . .

. . . started as my way of dealing with a professional frustration with properly spelled words that were out of context in manuscripts I was editing as well as books I was reviewing. It evolved into a sharing of information with y’all. I’m hoping you’ll share with us words that have been a bête noire for you from either end.

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Knave	Nave
Mobster by PrettySleepy1 is under the Pixabay License, via Pixabay. — Looks to be a knave . . .	Rusted Nave at the Center of an Iron-shod Wheel is under the CC0 license, via PxHere.
Part of Grammar:
Noun Plural: knaves	Noun ¹, ² Plural: naves
[Archaic] A dishonest or unscrupulous man Another term for the jack in playing cards [Archaic] A male servant A man of humble position	The central part of a church building, intended to accommodate most of the congregation. In traditional Western churches it is rectangular, separated from the chancel by a step or rail, and from adjacent aisles by pillars. ¹ The hub of a wheel ² [Obsolete] The navel
Examples:
He is but a knave, my lady. Instead, according to the same Daily Record, he is a knave and a liar. Due to my poor performance as a husband, father, and provider, I can claim the role of knave, or general ne’er-do-well. Notice also that it is not legal for East to put the knaves in the front hand, because it would then not be possible to make a middle hand that was better and a back hand that was better still from the remaining ten cards. If the turn-up is a knave, dealer scores one white chip at once; if the turn-up is the Joker, dealer scores one blue chip at once and the cards are immediately thrown in. Ho, knave, get this baggage to her ladyship’s room.	The plan of the church is essentially traditional with nave, altar, side chapel, and confessional booths. Back then it was known as St Mary’s and consisted of no more than a simple rectangular nave and chancel. In a gothic cathedral, the nave is flanked by aisles which run parallel to it. The pot was thrown on a disc or small platform fixed to the center or nave of the wheel. “Out, out, thou strumpet Fortune! All you gods, In general synod take away her power; Break all the spokes and fellies from her wheel, And bowl the round nave down the hill of heaven . . .” (Shakespeare, act 2, scene 2). “Till he faced the slave; Which ne’er shook hands, nor bade farewell to him, Till he unseam’d him from the nave to the chaps, And fix’d his head upon our battlements” (Shakespeare, act I, scene 1).
Derivatives:
Noun: knaveries, knavery
History of the Word:
Old English cnafa meaning boy, servant, is of West Germanic origin and related to the German Knabez meaning boy.	Early 16th century (as navy), perhaps via the Italian or the Spanish, both denoting a ship and the body of a church, from the Latin navis meaning ship. Old English nafu, nafa, is of Germanic origin and related to the Dutch naaf and the German Nabe, from an Indo-European root shared by the Sanskrit nābhis meaning nave, navel.

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C’mon, get it out of your system, bitch, whine, moan . . . which words are your pet peeves? Also, please note that I try to be as accurate as I can, but mistakes happen or I miss something. Email me if you find errors, so I can fix them . . . and we’ll all benefit!

Satisfy your curiosity about other Word Confusions on its homepage or more generally explore the index of self-editing posts. You may also want to explore Book Layout & Formatting Ideas, Formatting Tips, Grammar Explanations, Linguistics, Publishing Tips, the Properly Punctuated, Writing Ideas and Resources, and Working Your Website.

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