Navel

The navel is the abdominal scar left where the umbilical cord was attached before birth. Its shape varies with how the skin and tissues heal after the cord separates.

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Umbilical cord: A flexible structure connecting a fetus to the placenta and carrying blood between them. Its attachment to the fetus marks the site that becomes the navel.
Umbilical cord separation: The detachment of the dried umbilical stump from a newborn's abdomen, usually within the first weeks after birth. The stump's detachment begins the healing that leaves the navel.
Abdominal examination: A clinical assessment of the abdomen using inspection, palpation, percussion, and auscultation. Clinicians inspect the navel for changes that may signal disease or injury.
Innie: A navel whose scar is recessed into the surrounding abdominal surface. It is one common shape produced by healing at the umbilical site.
Navel-gazing: Excessive self-absorption, named after the practice of contemplating one's own navel. The body's small scar became a metaphor for inward-looking thought.
Placenta: An organ that develops during pregnancy to exchange gases, nutrients, and waste between parent and fetus. It connects to the fetus through the cord that leaves the navel after birth.
Umbilical stump: The dried remnant of the umbilical cord attached to a newborn after birth. It is the temporary tissue that falls away before the navel is fully healed.
Laparoscopy: A surgical technique that uses a camera inserted through small abdominal incisions. The navel often provides a discreet entry site for laparoscopic instruments.
Outie: A navel whose scar protrudes above the surrounding abdominal surface. It is the contrasting common shape, sometimes associated with an umbilical hernia.
Navel orange: A sweet orange variety marked by a small secondary fruit at the blossom end, resembling a navel. The fruit's name borrows the navel's distinctive shape.