Definition
NAV is an abbreviation appearing in historical legal texts, primarily maritime contexts, as a shorthand for the Latin *navis* (ship) or as a contracted citation to Roccus *de Navi et Naulo* (On Ships and Freight), a foundational treatise on maritime commercial law. In Burrill and contemporaneous legal writing, "Nav." functions less as a standalone term and more as a citation signal pointing readers to maritime authority — particularly the Roccus treatise and related statutory sources governing shipping, freight, and maritime contracts.
The abbreviation should not be confused with the modern financial term "NAV" (Net Asset Value), which has no historical legal connection to this usage.
Common Language
Modern common usage (Wiktionary): "to navigate" — to plan or direct the course of a vehicle, vessel, or journey.
Historical common usage: In early nineteenth-century general usage, "nav" had no independent standing as a common word; "navigate" and "navigation" were the operative terms.
Editorial note: The common English root (*navis*, ship; *navigare*, to sail) is shared, but "Nav." as it appears in Burrill's legal writing is a citation abbreviation, not a verb or descriptive term. A researcher who encounters "Nav." in historical legal text should read it as pointing to the Roccus treatise or to maritime statutory authority, not as a reference to the act of navigation itself.
Common Confusion
Researchers working across legal periods may encounter three distinct uses of the abbreviation "NAV": (1) the historical maritime citation abbreviation discussed here; (2) "Net Asset Value," a term central to investment fund regulation and securities law; and (3) general shorthand for "navigation" in statutory indexes and administrative materials. Context — particularly the date and subject matter of the source — is the primary disambiguating factor. Any entry in an early nineteenth-century maritime law source almost certainly refers to the Roccus treatise or to *navis*.
Why It Matters in Research
The principal research value of "Nav." in historical sources is as a citation key. When Burrill cites "Roccus de Nav. & Naulo, not. 9," he is directing the reader to Francesco Roccus's *Notabilia de Navibus et Naulo*, a seventeenth-century Italian maritime treatise that circulated widely in English-language admiralty practice and was frequently cited in American federal courts during the early national period. Researchers tracing the doctrinal lineage of maritime lien, freight, and charter-party law in American admiralty courts before codification will find this abbreviation appearing as a signal that the authority being invoked is civilian and mercantile rather than common law.
The statutory citations paired with "Nav." in Burrill — referencing acts of May 26, 1824 and May 24, 1828 — are U.S. federal navigation and commerce statutes from the early consolidation period of American maritime law. Researchers working on the development of federal admiralty jurisdiction, the regulation of coastal and inland navigation, or the interaction between federal statute and maritime common law in this era should flag these paired citations as entry points into that legislative history.
A practical trap: digitized legal databases may not reliably expand "Nav." in full-text search results. Researchers should search for "Naulo," "Roccus," and the specific statutory dates rather than relying on the abbreviation alone.
Historical Dictionary Support
Burrill's Law Dictionary does not define "Nav." as a term of art in its own right. The entry functions as a cross-reference anchor — it appears as a parenthetical citation cluster linking maritime case law (3 Sumner's Reports 213, a federal circuit court reporter from the 1830s) to the Roccus treatise and to federal statute. This reflects a common Burrill editorial practice of gathering authority under abbreviated headings rather than providing analytical definitions.
What Burrill does not provide — and what no historical legal dictionary in the Law Mind shelf fully supplies — is an analytical account of how Roccus's civilian framework was received and modified in American admiralty courts. Researchers should treat Burrill's "Nav." citations as a starting map, not a destination.
Jurisdictional Note
The Roccus treatise was cited primarily in federal admiralty proceedings, where civilian maritime law traditions had direct relevance. State court treatment of maritime questions in the same period was less uniform. Researchers working in state court records from the early nineteenth century should not assume "Nav." citations carry the same doctrinal weight they carried in federal admiralty.
Encyclopedia Cross-Reference
See Law Mind Encyclopedia: Maritime Law; Shipping and Freight.