E. Cobham Brewer 1810–1897. Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. 1898.
Navvy.
A contraction of navigator. One employed to make railways.
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“Canals were thought of as lines of inland navigation and a tavern built by the side of a canal was called a ‘Navigation Inn.’ Hence it happened that the men employed in exoavating canals were called ‘navigators,’ shortened into navvies.”—Spencer: Principles of Sociology, vol. i. appendix C, p. 834.
