canal

Forms

canal m (plural canaux)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin canālis (“pipe, water conduit, channel”),^[2][3][4] a derivative of canna (“reed, pipe”).^[3][5][6] The Petit Robert adds that the Latin noun was taken from Ancient Greek κάννα (kánna), itself of Semitic origin.^[7] In Latin the word is found from Plautus for the gutter that drained into the Cloaca Maxima in Rome, from Caesar for any water conduit, and it already had figurative, anatomical and architectural uses.^[2][3]

The inherited outcome of the same Latin word is chenal, Old French chanel, chenel, whose modern form was remade after the learned word.^[5][1] Cognate with Italian canale, Occitan canal, Catalan canal and Spanish canal.^[7][8]

Earliest recorded meaning

It first appears in the Pèlerinage de Charlemagne (first half of the 12th century) for the bed of a river: the water reentre en son canal “goes back into its bed” after flooding the plain.^[2][8]

Semantic evolution

The word entered French as a geographical term for the bed or branch of a river, a sense now dying out except for a narrow arm of the sea between two shores (1549).^[3][2] It became common for a waterway dug by people, especially a navigable one (1538), as in the grand canal of Venice (1606).^[3][2]

In the 16th and 17th centuries it took back the technical senses of Latin canalis: a groove in architecture (1538), a duct of the body (before 1680), a conduit for rainwater (1690), and the figurative sense “means, channel of access” (1679, Madame de Sévigné).^[3][2] It was later used in botany (1813) and anatomy.^[3]

Under the influence of the English word channel, it came to mean a means by which information is passed on, and in broadcasting the frequency band of a television station, which French usually calls a chaîne;^[3] canal de distribution in economics also renders channel.^[3]

Timeline

• 1100–1150 – First record, in the Pèlerinage de Charlemagne, for the bed of a river.^[2][8]
• 1538 – Robert Estienne records it for an artificial waterway and for a groove in architecture.^[2][9]
• 1549 – Estienne uses it for an arm of the sea.^[2][3]
• 1606 – Nicot has the canal de Venise.^[2]
• 1679 – Madame de Sévigné uses it figuratively for a means or intermediary.^[2][3]
• Before 1680 – It names a duct of the body in Richelet's dictionary.^[2]
• 1690 – Furetière records it for a conduit for rainwater.^[2]
• 1813 – Canal médullaire appears in botany.^[2]
• 1829 – The derivative canaliser is recorded with the sense “open canals in a region”.^[5][3]
• 20th century – After English channel, it is used of a television or radio frequency band.^[3][9]

Meanings

Noun

1. A canal, an artificial waterway used for navigation, irrigation or drainage: canal de Suez.^[7][10]
2. A long, narrow ornamental pool in a park or garden.^[7][9]
3. (geography) A narrow arm of the sea between two shores, a strait: canal de Mozambique.^[7][10]
4. (dated) The bed or a branch of a river.^[7][9]
5. A pipe or conduit through which a liquid or gas passes.^[10][2]
6. (anatomy, botany) A tubular cavity or duct in the body or in a plant, other than the arteries and veins.^[10][2]
7. (figurative) A means or intermediary through which something is passed on: par le canal d'une voisine.^[10][2]
8. (broadcasting) A frequency band used by a radio or television transmitter, a channel.^[10][3]
9. (architecture) A groove or flute cut in a moulding.^[2][9]

Word family

• canaliser
• canalisation

Related words

• chenal
• canne
• Latin canālis

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r Trésor de la langue française informatisé (2004), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/tlfi; electronic version of Imbs, Paul; Quemada, Bernard, eds. (1971–1994), Trésor de la langue française, Paris: CNRS / Gallimard
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 2, 169b
5. ^ a b c Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
6. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
7. ^ a b c d e f Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
8. ^ a b c Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
9. ^ a b c d e Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
10. ^ a b c d e f Dictionnaire Le Robert en ligne, dictionnaire.lerobert.com (accessed 2024)