Etymologically
Log in

canoe

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 12 October 2026 at 21:32. This address is a permanent link to this version.
Changes in this edit History

Pronunciation

  • IPA: /kəˈnuː/[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Spanish canoa, partly through French canoe,[2][3][4][5][6] from Taíno canoa, the form recorded by Columbus in Haiti,[3][4][7][8] of Cariban origin:[2][5] compare Carib canaoua.[3][7][9]

Earliest recorded meaning

A simple keelless boat of the West Indian peoples, hollowed out of a tree trunk, and by extension any roughly made boat of the native peoples of America (1555 in the OED, Barnhart and Merriam-Webster, as canoa).[10][3][5]

Semantic evolution

In the 16th and 17th centuries English used many forms taken from different European languages, such as canoa, canow, cano and cannoe;[3][4] canoe was settled on by the 18th century.[4] Raleigh wrote of “the boate of one tree called the canoa”.[8] From 1799 the word also meant a small light boat paddled for recreation.[10] The verb is from 1794 (Merriam-Webster) or 1842 (the OED).[5][10][3] The American phrase to paddle one's own canoe, to make one's way by one's own efforts, dates from 1828.[4][11]

Timeline

  • 1555 – canoa.[10][3][5]
  • 1590 – canow.[3]
  • 1794 – verb.[5]
  • 1799 – a light boat for recreation.[10]
  • 1828 – paddle one's own canoe.[4]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. A light, narrow open boat with pointed ends, propelled by paddles.
  2. (New Zealand) A Maori waka.

Verb

  1. To travel in or paddle a canoe.
  2. To carry or send by canoe.

Word family

  • canoeist
  • canoe birch
  • canoe slalom
  • kayak
  • pirogue
  • dugout
  • waka

References

  1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h Barnhart, Robert K., ed. (1995), The Barnhart Concise Dictionary of Etymology, New York: HarperCollins
  4. ^ a b c d e f Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  5. ^ a b c d e f Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  6. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
  7. ^ a b Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  8. ^ a b Weekley, Ernest (1921), An Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, London: John Murray
  9. ^ Partridge, Eric (1966), Origins: A Short Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, 4th ed., London: Routledge & Kegan Paul
  10. ^ a b c d e Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
  11. ^ Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary (1999), 2nd ed., New York: Random House