canvas

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈkæn.vəs/^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Anglo-Norman canevaz, Old Northern French canevach, Old French chenevas,^[2][3][4] from Vulgar Latin *cannapāceus, made of hemp,^[2][3][5] from cannapus, a variant of Latin cannabis, hemp, from Ancient Greek κάνναβις (kánnabis) (see cannabis and hemp).^[2][3][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

A strong coarse cloth of hemp or flax: 1260 in the OED,^[7] 1354 as canevace in Barnhart, the mid-14th century in Etymonline.^[2][3]

Semantic evolution

A sheet or covering of the cloth is from about 1386,^[7] and sailcloth, or sails collectively, from 1609.^[7] As a surface for oil painting canvas is from about 1700, and an oil painting from 1764.^[3] Under canvas, in tents, is from 1864,^[7] and the floor of a boxing ring from 1910.^[7] A spelling with two s's lasted from the 1500s into the 1800s and gave the verb canvass, first to toss in a canvas sheet, later to solicit votes.^[2]

Timeline

• 1260 – hemp cloth.^[7]
• 1609 – sails.^[7]
• c. 1700 – a painting surface.^[3]
• 1764 – an oil painting.^[3]
• 1864 – under canvas.^[7]
• 1910 – the floor of a boxing ring.^[7]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. A heavy, closely woven cloth of cotton, hemp or flax, used for tents and sails.
2. A piece of such cloth prepared for an oil painting, or the painting itself.
3. Sails or tents collectively: under canvas.
4. The floor of a boxing or wrestling ring.

Word family

• canvaslike
• canvasback

Related words

• canvass
• cannabis
• hemp

References

1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
2. ^ a b c d e Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
3. ^ a b c d e f g Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
6. ^ Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
7. ^ a b c d e f g h i Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press