Naval relates to a navy or to ships of war — a naval officer, a naval base. Navel is the belly button. One letter separates them and there is no shared meaning, so "navel base" and "naval orange" are opposite errors.
The core difference
Two unrelated words, both real, one letter apart.
- naval — of a navy: naval warfare, naval architecture.
- navel — the belly button: navel piercing.
The fruit
Navel orange is spelled with an E — it is named for the small secondary fruit at its base, which looks like a navel. It has nothing to do with the navy, and it is the case where the counterintuitive spelling is the right one.
Navel-gazing
Navel-gazing means self-absorbed contemplation, from the practice of staring at one's own navel. The related word omphaloskepsis — Greek for exactly that — exists and is worth knowing purely for its own sake.
Frequently asked questions
Is it naval orange or navel orange?
Navel orange, with an E — named for the navel-like formation at its base.
Which one relates to ships?
Naval, with an A.
What does navel-gazing mean?
Self-absorbed contemplation. The formal Greek word for it is omphaloskepsis.