cana

Forms

cana f (plural canas)^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from Spanish cano (“white-haired, grey”): the feminine of the adjective, used as a noun.^[2][3][4][5] Moliner and Alemany take it straight from Latin cāna, and Wiktionary allows either origin.^[6][7][1] Latin used the plural of the adjective, cānī, for grey hairs;^[8][9] Nebrija and Autoridades give it as the Latin equivalent.^[8][9]

The adjective cano continues cānus (“white, especially of hair”).^[10][3] De Vaan derives this from Proto-Italic *kasno- (“grey”), from Proto-Indo-European *ḱh₁s-no-, related to the word for “hare” in other Indo-European languages, such as Old High German haso, and to hasan (“grey, shining”).^[11] Wiktionary writes the root *ḱeh₂s- (“bright grey”).^[1] The same noun is Portuguese cã, mostly used in the plural.^[1][12]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is in Poridat de poridades (c. 1250), a book of advice that promises a remedy will delay the grey hairs: fazer uos a tardar las canas.^[13] Alfonso X's Lapidario describes a stone that prevents grey hair, uedador de canas.^[13][14] Corominas's first record is later, Sem Tob's Proverbios (c. 1360).^[10][2]

Semantic evolution

The word has always meant a hair that has turned white, mostly in the plural.^[2][15] Grey hair also stands for old age and experience.^[16] Covarrubias in 1611 explained it, in the manner of his time, from Latin candor “whiteness”.^[17] The Academy's 1817 dictionary gives the proverbs a canas honradas no hay puertas cerradas, on the respect owed to old people, and canas son, que no lunares, cuando comienzan por los aladares, against those who deny what everyone sees, and the phrases peinar canas “to be old” and quitar mil canas “to give great pleasure”.^[18] Echar una cana al aire “to have some fun, to let one's hair down” is in its 1869 edition, after Domínguez's echar una cana fuera (1846).^[19][20] In Peru and Uruguay sacar canas verdes is to cause someone constant worry.^[3]

Timeline

• c. 1250 – Poridat de poridades has las canas.^[13]
• 1250–1279 – Alfonso X's Lapidario has uedador de canas.^[14]
• c. 1360 – Corominas's first record, in Sem Tob.^[10][2]
• c. 1495 – Nebrija defines canas as the white hairs themselves, Latin cani.^[8][21]
• 1611 – Covarrubias derives it from whiteness, Latin candor.^[17]
• 1729 – Autoridades defines canas and derives it from Latin cani.^[9]
• 1817 – the Academy gives the proverbs and phrases with canas.^[18]
• 1869 – echar una cana al aire enters the Academy's dictionary.^[19]
• 1884 – the Academy derives it from cano.^[22]

Meanings

Noun

1. A white or grey hair, a hair that has lost its colour; usually in the plural: Con cuarenta años ya le salían canas en las sienes.^[3][1][6]
2. (in the plural) Old age, as a sign of maturity and experience: Hay que respetar sus canas.^[16]

Related words

• canoso
• encanecer
• canicie
• Latin cānus
• Portuguese cã

Usage notes

Fixed phrases include echar una cana al aire “to enjoy oneself for once, outside one's usual habits” and peinar canas “to be old”.^[3][6]

A separate word cana is a measure of length of about two varas, used in Catalonia and elsewhere; it comes from Latin canna (“reed”), and Vox thinks it probably came through Catalan cana.^[23][16][9] In the slang of several Latin American countries cana means prison, and in Argentina, Uruguay and Bolivia the police;^{[24][6][1][25]} Wiktionary takes it from Lunfardo, and Wikcionario from French canne “cane”, after the officers' batons.^{[24][6][1][5]}

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d Corominas, Joan (1973), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua castellana, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. cano
3. ^ a b c d e 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. cano
4. ^ Gómez de Silva, Guido (1988), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua española, México: Fondo de Cultura Económica / El Colegio de México, p. 140
5. ^ a b Wikcionario (Spanish Wiktionary), es.wiktionary.org
6. ^ a b c d e Moliner, María (2007), Diccionario de uso del español, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. cana
7. ^ Alemany y Bolufer, José (1917), Diccionario de la lengua española, Barcelona: Ramón Sopena, p. 315
8. ^ a b c 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. cana
9. ^ a b c d Real Academia Española (1726–1739), Diccionario de la lengua castellana (Diccionario de Autoridades), 6 vols., Madrid: Francisco del Hierro, p. 2, 104
10. ^ a b c Corominas, Joan; Pascual, José A. (1980–1991), Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico, 6 vols., Madrid: Gredos, p. 1, 809
11. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill, p. s.v. cānus
12. ^ Houaiss, Antônio; Villar, Mauro de Salles (2001), Dicionário Houaiss da língua portuguesa, Rio de Janeiro: Objetiva, p. s.v. cã
13. ^ a b c Real Academia Española (2013–), Corpus del Diccionario histórico de la lengua española (CDH), version 3.1, https://apps.rae.es/CNDHE, p. s.v. cana
14. ^ 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. cana
15. ^ 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, p. 601
16. ^ a b c Battaner Arias, Paz (dir.) (2017), Diccionario general de la lengua española VOX, Barcelona: Larousse Editorial, p. s.v. cana
17. ^ a b Covarrubias Orozco, Sebastián de (1611), Tesoro de la lengua castellana o española, Madrid: Luis Sánchez (Biblioteca Wordkers transcription, CC BY 4.0), p. 405
18. ^ a b Real Academia Española (1817), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 5th ed., Madrid: Imprenta Real, p. 166
19. ^ a b Real Academia Española (1869), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 11th ed., Madrid: Imprenta de Don Manuel Rivadeneyra, p. 141
20. ^ Domínguez, Ramón Joaquín (1846–1847), Diccionario nacional o gran diccionario clásico de la lengua española, 2 vols., Madrid: Establecimiento Léxico-Tipográfico de R. J. Domínguez, p. 325
21. ^ Nebrija, Antonio de (1513), Vocabulario español-latino, Salamanca, ed. Marina Vidal Díez (2007), Biblioteca Virtual Miguel de Cervantes, p. 309
22. ^ Real Academia Española (1884), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 12th ed., Madrid: Imprenta de D. Gregorio Hernando (the first Academy edition with etymologies), p. 197
23. ^ 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. cana
24. ^ 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. cana
25. ^ Wikcionario (Spanish Wiktionary), es.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. cana