Naval is an adjective meaning of or related to ships, shipping, or the navy. Navel is a noun meaning the mark on the surface of the mammalian abdomen where the umbilical cord was attached during gestation—i.e., the belly button. Navel is also the correct spelling for the sweet orange.
Examples
Although most writers use the nautical term correctly, the misuse of naval in place of navel is common—for example:
The defence called a local tattoo artist as a witness, who said Ashton got a tattoo in her naval area in August 2003. [Vancouver Sun (article now offline)]
I simply chop or grind a naval orange, peel and all, and then eat it with a spoon. [letter to Amarillo Globe-News]
These writers use navel and naval correctly:
For salads, try combinations of leaf lettuce with various citrus fruits, navel oranges in particular. [Montreal Gazette (article now offline)]
The combination of the Castro communists and the Soviets caused the Cuban missile crisis of 1962, and led President Kennedy to declare a naval blockade. [Brantford Expositor]
First, is this a frivolous, navel-gazing fad or can you really earn a living at it? [New York Times]
The naval relics, put in dry dock last month for a month of repairs, occupy only a slice of the vast facility just outside Baltimore. [Los Angeles Times]
Bonds then hiked his shirt, and Anderson injected Bonds in the area of his navel, she said. [San Francisco Chronicle]
