Circumnavigated

Circumnavigated is the past tense and past participle form of circumnavigate, a verb meaning to travel around something in a complete loop, returning to the starting point. The object circumnavigated can be the Earth, a continent, an island chain, a country, or any other geographical or imaginary boundary. The term is most often used for long-distance travel by ship, aircraft, or spacecraft, but it can also describe completing a loop around a physical feature such as a mountain or a city.

The word derives from circum-, around, and navigare, to sail, from Latin. In English, circumnavigate appeared in the early modern period and has since entered common usage across explorations and travel narratives. The related noun circumnavigation describes the act itself; the adjective circumnavigational is rare.

Notable circumnavigations include Ferdinand Magellan’s expedition (1519–1522), the first to sail around the Earth, although Magellan himself died before completion and Elcano finished the voyage. Joshua Slocum’s solo voyage (1895–1898) became the first solo circumnavigation by sea. The first solo aircraft circumnavigation was completed by Wiley Post in 1933. In contemporary usage, circumnavigation has been achieved in various modes of transport and can also be used metaphorically to describe navigating around obstacles or constraints.