can

can¹ be able to

Etymology

The verb is inherited from Middle English can, the first and third person singular present of connen (“to know how, be able”),^[5][6][7] inherited from Old English can, present of cunnan (“to know, know how”),^[2][3][8][7] from Proto-Germanic *kunnaną (“to know how, be able”).^[9] It is cognate with Old Frisian kunna, Old Saxon kunnan, Old High German kunnan (German können), Old Norse kunna and Gothic 𐌺𐌿𐌽𐌽𐌰𐌽 (kunnan).^[8][3][10] It belongs to the preterite-present verbs of the Germanic languages, like may and shall, whose present tense was originally a past tense, so that the primary meaning was "have learned, come to know".^[3][10][11] The root is Proto-Indo-European *ǵneh₃- (“to know”), also the source of know,^[1][8][7] and Kroonen explains the Germanic verb from a nasal present like that of Lithuanian žinoti (“to know”).^[9][8] The Old English past cūþe became Middle English coude, and could took its l from should and would;^[3][1][8] the old past participle survives in uncouth, and the present participle in cunning.^[3][2]

Earliest recorded meaning

To know or have learned something, in Beowulf, which Barnhart dates to about 725;^[3][8] Old English also used it of knowing a person.^[8] The sense "be able to" occurs in early Old English,^[8] but Barnhart notes that it was rare there, may doing that work, and well evident only from the Peterborough Chronicle of 1123.^[3][5]

Semantic evolution

Ayto traces the meaning from "come to know" through "know how to do something" to "be able to".^[1] The sense "to know" was current in Middle English and lasted into the 17th century:^[3] Ben Jonson wrote in 1632 that a lady could the Bible in the holy tongue.^[1][11] The sense "know how to" was absorbed into "be able to" by about 1530.^[8][11] Etymonline notes that it also came to be used like may for mere permission.^[2] From 1533 it expressed what is sometimes true of a thing or a group, as in the sea can be rough,^[8] and can have, for the past, is recorded from 1692.^[8] An exclamatory use with inversion, as in can she sing!, began in American English in 1918.^[8] A noun can, power or ability, recorded from before 1500, lived on in Scots as "skill, knowledge".^[8][12]

Timeline

• c. 725 – to know or have learned something, in Beowulf.^[3][8]
• early Old English – to be able to (rare before the 12th century).^[8][3]
• before 1325 – past tense coude, in the Cursor Mundi.^[3]
• c. 1500 – past tense could, with l after should and would.^[3]
• before 1500 – noun can, power, ability, later Scots for skill (1721).^[8]
• 1533 – to have the capacity to, of a thing or class.^[8]
• 1692 – can have, of the past.^[8]
• 1918 – exclamatory, with inversion (colloquial, US).^[8]

Meanings

Verb

1. Used to express ability or skill: She can swim two lengths underwater.^[13][8]
2. Used to express permission: Can we leave early today?^[13][2]
3. Used to express knowing how to do something: He can read music.^[13][11]
4. Used to express possibility or opportunity: Anything can happen in the final round.^[13][8]
5. (obsolete) To know or understand something, such as a language.^[6][11][8]

Word family

• can-do
• cannot
• can't

can² container

Etymology

The container is inherited from Middle English canne,^[5][6] inherited from Old English canne (“cup, container”),^[2][3][8] from Proto-Germanic *kannǭ (“can, tankard, jug”).^[9][14] It is cognate with Old Saxon kanna, Old High German kanna (German Kanne), Middle Dutch kanne (Dutch kan) and Old Norse kanna.^[8][3][9] Its further origin is disputed.^[8][14][9] Etymonline and Barnhart take the Germanic words to be probably an early borrowing from Late Latin canna (“container, vessel”), from classical Latin canna (“reed, tube”), the source of cane;^[2][3] Merriam-Webster explains the sense from the long thin spout of some ancient vessels.^[6] The OED thinks a connection with the Latin word probable but cannot say which language borrowed from which,^[8] Orel holds that the Latin word came from Germanic,^[14] and Kroonen compares Middle Irish gand (“vessel”) and leaves the question open.^[9] Hoad notes that Old English canne is recorded only once, and that the word was probably brought in again from the Continent in the 14th century.^[10]

Earliest recorded meaning

A container for liquids of any material or shape, including a drinking vessel: in the Old English Antwerp-London Glossary.^[8] Barnhart dates the word to before 1000, in the writings of Ælfric.^[3]

Semantic evolution

In Middle English a canne was a jar, bucket or pot for water, as in the Wycliffite Bible's water pots at Cana.^[5] Johnson (1755) defined it as a cup, generally of metal.^[15] The amount a can holds is recorded from 1495, and Shetland and Orkney used it for a measure of about a gallon.^[8][11] Technical uses followed: a metal cylinder for receiving the sliver in cotton spinning (1795), and in Scotland a chimney pot (1805).^[8] The sealed tin for preserving food is recorded from 1852 in the OED^[8] (from 1867 in Etymonline),^[2] the drinks can followed in 1927.^[8] North American English has used can for a large bin for rubbish or ashes since 1872,^[8] and the film industry for a container for a reel since 1913, whence in the can, recorded and completed.^[8][11] Slang uses include the vagina (from 1607 in Green's Dictionary of Slang),^[16][8] a toilet (about 1900), the buttocks (about 1910) and prison.^[2][11][8] The verb, to put up in cans, is recorded from 1855 in the revised OED;^[8] Merriam-Webster, Etymonline and Barnhart date it to about 1860.^[6][2][3] American slang added the senses "to dismiss from a job" (1896), "to stop" (1906, as in can it) and "to reject or drop a plan" (1918).^[8][16]

Timeline

• c. 1000 – a container for liquids, a cup.^[8][3]
• 1495 – the contents of a can.^[8]
• 1805 – Scottish, a chimney pot.^[8]
• 1852 – a sealed metal container for preserving food.^[8]
• 1855 – verb, to put in cans.^[8]
• 1872 – North American, a bin for rubbish.^[8]
• 1896 – verb, US slang, to dismiss, fire.^[8]
• 1906 – verb, slang, to stop, as in can it.^[8][16]
• 1913 – a container for a reel of film; the buttocks.^[8]
• 1927 – a drinks can.^[8]

Meanings

Noun

1. A container, usually of thin sheet metal, especially for liquids: a can of motor oil.^[13][6]
2. A sealed metal container for food or drink; a tin: a can of tomatoes.^[13][8]
3. The contents of a can; a canful.^[13][8]
4. (chiefly North American) A large bin for rubbish.^[8][11]
5. (slang) A prison.^[13][11]
6. (slang, North American) A toilet.^[11][2]
7. (slang, North American) The buttocks.^[8][11]
8. in the can: of a film or recording, finished.^[11][8]

Verb

1. To put food or drink into cans, or to preserve it in sealed containers.^[8][6][11]
2. (slang, chiefly US) To dismiss from a job.^[8][11]
3. (slang) To stop doing something, as in can it, be quiet.^[8][11]
4. (slang) To reject or abandon a plan or project.^[8]

Word family

• canner
• canful
• cannery
• canning
• ashcan
• oilcan