cañón

Forms

cañón m (plural cañones)^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from Spanish caño (“pipe, tube”) + -ón, as an augmentative.^[2][1][3] Corominas lists it among the derivatives of caña “reed, cane”, and Gómez de Silva calls it an augmentative of that word in the sense “tube”.^[4][5][6] The base goes back to Latin canna (“reed”).^[4]

Corominas suggests that the sense “piece of artillery”, recorded from 1535, may have been modelled on Italian cannone, which is also the source of French canon (1339).^[4]

The sense “canyon” is Mexican and North American, recorded from 1834.^[5] Corominas considers its origin uncertain: because the older form was callón (1560–75), it probably comes from calle in the old sense “narrow way”, from callis (“path, track”).^[5][7] Gómez de Silva derives it more simply from the sense “tube”.^[6] The English word canyon is borrowed from the Mexican Spanish word.^[8][9]

Earliest recorded meaning

The earliest hits in the CDH are the Libro de Alexandre (1240–1250, in an early 15th-century copy), with copper pipes buried at the root of a tree, and the Moamín (1250), a falconry treatise that speaks of young pigeons still todos llenos de cannones “all covered in pin feathers”.^[10][11] The Moamín also uses the word for the hollow shaft of a feather.^[12]

Semantic evolution

Corominas has the quill c. 1400 in the glossary of Toledo, and the stiff root of a beard hair in the Cancionero de Baena.^[4] Alonso de Palencia (1490) uses cañones for organ pipes, and Nebrija has cañón de ala for the quill of a wing.^[13] In 1729 the Diccionario de Autoridades gave the quill pen as the usual sense when no other word is added, and recorded the slang senses “informer” and, in Galicia, “idle rogue”.^[14]

The sense “cannon” dates from 1535, in Fernández de Oviedo, and a letter from Mexico of the same year mentions tres cañones pedreros set up for a bombardment.^[4][15] The sense “gorge” is Mexican: Icazbalceta and Santamaría record it for the passes through which rivers run, and Friederici notes that Coronado's men in 1541 called the Grand Canyon barranca, not cañón.^[16][9] English writers in the American West used cañón from the 1840s, and spelled it canyon.^[9][8]

Modern senses include a stage spotlight, a telephoto lens and a data projector.^[2] In Spain, the colloquial adverb pasarlo cañón “to have a great time” is recorded from 1951.^[11] In Cuba, the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico cañón is popular for a pistol or revolver, and in Cuba and the Dominican Republic for a strong, healthy person.^[17]

Timeline

• 1240–1250 – the Libro de Alexandre (in a 15th-century copy) mentions copper pipes.^[10]
• 1250 – the Moamín uses it for pin feathers and the shaft of a feather.^[10][12]
• c. 1400 – the glossary of Toledo has the sense “quill”.^[4]
• 1490 – Alonso de Palencia uses it for organ pipes.^[13]
• c. 1495 – Nebrija gives cañón de ala as Latin caulis pennae.^[13][18]
• 1535 – the sense “piece of artillery”, in Fernández de Oviedo.^[4]
• 1560–75 – the form callón for a narrow pass.^[5]
• 1729 – the Diccionario de Autoridades defines the quill pen and the beard stubble.^[14]
• 1834 – the sense “canyon” is recorded in Mexico and North America, and English takes it as canyon.^[5][8]
• 1951 – pasarlo cañón “to have a great time” is first recorded.^[11]

Meanings

Noun

1. A long hollow piece, a tube, such as the barrel of a gun or the pipe of an organ or chimney.^[2][1]
2. In clothing, a fold that looks like a tube.^[2]
3. The hollow shaft of a feather, the calamus.^[2]
4. A pin feather, a feather just beginning to grow.^[2]
5. A quill pen.^[2]
6. The stiff root part of a beard hair; stubble.^[2]
7. A cannon: a long piece of artillery for firing balls or shells.^[2][1]
8. Each of the two round irons that form the mouthpiece of a horse's bit.^[2]
9. A cowbell somewhat smaller than the zumba.^[2]
10. A canyon or deep gorge between high mountains, through which a river usually runs: Bajamos en canoa por el cañón.^[2][1]
11. (theatre) A spotlight.^[2]
12. A telephoto lens.^[2]
13. (computing) A data projector.^[2][1]
14. (Cuba, Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, colloquial) A pistol or revolver.^[17]

Adjective

1. (Spain, colloquial) Great, terrific; as an adverb in pasarlo cañón “to have a great time”.^[11][1]

Word family

• cañonear
• cañonazo
• cañonero

Related words

• caña
• cañería
• caño
• canon
• Latin canna
• English canyon

Usage notes

Set phrases include carne de cañón “cannon fodder” and al pie del cañón “at one's post, still working”.^[1]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Real Academia Española; Asociación de Academias de la Lengua Española (2014–), Diccionario de la lengua española, 23rd ed., online version 23.8, https://dle.rae.es, p. s.v. cañón
3. ^ García de Diego, Vicente (1985), Diccionario etimológico español e hispánico, 2nd ed., Madrid: Espasa-Calpe (1st ed. 1954), p. art. 1368
4. ^ a b c d e f g Corominas, Joan; Pascual, José A. (1980–1991), Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico, 6 vols., Madrid: Gredos, p. 1, 820
5. ^ a b c d e Corominas, Joan (1973), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua castellana, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. cañón
6. ^ a b Gómez de Silva, Guido (1988), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua española, México: Fondo de Cultura Económica / El Colegio de México
7. ^ Bénaben, Michel (2000), Dictionnaire étymologique de l'espagnol, Paris: Ellipses
8. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
9. ^ a b c Friederici, Georg (1947), Amerikanistisches Wörterbuch, Hamburg: Cram, de Gruyter, p. 128
10. ^ a b c Real Academia Española (2013–), Corpus del Diccionario histórico de la lengua española (CDH), version 3.1, https://apps.rae.es/CNDHE
11. ^ a b c d Real Academia Española (2013–), Diccionario histórico de la lengua española (DHLE), https://www.rae.es/dhle
12. ^ a b Kasten, Lloyd A.; Nitti, John J.; Gago Jover, Francisco (2002–), Diccionario de la prosa castellana del Rey Alfonso X, New York: Hispanic Seminary of Medieval Studies (electronic edition 2024), p. s.v. cañón
13. ^ a b c Alonso Pedraz, Martín (1986), Diccionario medieval español: desde las Glosas Emilianenses y Silenses (s. X) hasta el siglo XV, 2 vols., Salamanca: Universidad Pontificia de Salamanca
14. ^ a b Real Academia Española (1726–1739), Diccionario de la lengua castellana (Diccionario de Autoridades), 6 vols., Madrid: Francisco del Hierro, p. 2, 132–133
15. ^ Boyd-Bowman, Peter (2003), Léxico hispanoamericano 1493–1993, ed. Ray Harris-Northall and John J. Nitti, New York: Hispanic Seminary of Medieval Studies, p. s.v. cañón
16. ^ Santamaría, Francisco J. (1959), Diccionario de mejicanismos, México: Porrúa, p. 205
17. ^ a b Asociación de Academias de la Lengua Española (2010), Diccionario de americanismos, Lima: Santillana; online at https://www.asale.org/damer, p. s.v. cañón
18. ^ Lleal, Coloma (dir.), DICCA-XV: Diccionario del castellano del siglo XV en la Corona de Aragón, Barcelona: Universitat de Barcelona, Grup d'Estudis d'Història de la Llengua (GHCL), https://ghcl.ub.edu/diccaxv, p. s.v. cañón