canyon

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈkæn.jən/^[1]

Etymology

It is American English, borrowed from Mexican borrowed from Spanish cañón, an extended sense of Spanish cañón, tube, pipe,^[2][3][4] which is of uncertain origin.^[2] It is usually taken as an augmentative of caño, tube, or caña, cane, from Latin canna, reed (see cane),^[3][4][5] but since the Spanish word is attested in 1560–75 as callón, Barnhart and Merriam-Webster suggest it may come from calle, street, from Latin callis, path, in the sense “narrow way”.^[2][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

A narrow valley between cliffs: 1834, as cañon.^[2][3]

Semantic evolution

The OED's first record of the spelling canyon is from 1837.^[7] The Century Dictionary noted that this sense was peculiar to the United States, rare in Mexico and unknown in Spain.^[3] The verb, to cut into canyons, is from 1869.^[7]

Timeline

• 1560–75 – Spanish callón.^[2]
• 1834 – cañon.^[2][3]
• 1837 – canyon.^[7]
• 1869 – to canyon (verb).^[7]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. A deep, narrow gorge with steep sides, cut by a river, especially in North America.

Word family

• canyoneering
• canyoning
• box canyon
• Grand Canyon

Related words

• cane
• cannon
• channel

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 f Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
3. ^ a b c d e Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
7. ^ a b c d Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press