late 15c., "small boat," from Old French nacele "little boat, bark, skiff" (12c., Modern French nacelle), from Vulgar Latin *naucella, from Late Latin navicella "a little ship," diminutive of Latin navis "ship" (from PIE root *nau- "boat"). The original sense was soon obsolete. Modern meaning "gondola of an airship" is from 1901, a borrowing from French; extended to "cockpit of an aircraft" by 1914; later transferred to other similar housings and structures.