canoe English · revision 1526

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=1555}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /kəˈnuː/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|es|canoa]], partly through [[fr|canoe]],^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate)^(Klein 1966) from [[tnq|canoa]], the form recorded by Columbus in Haiti,^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(MWU 2024)^(Weekley 1921) of Cariban origin:^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate) compare [[car|canaoua]].^(Barnhart 1995)^(MWU 2024)^(Partridge 1966)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ A simple keelless boat of the West Indian peoples, hollowed out of a tree trunk, and by extension any roughly made boat of the native peoples of America (1555 in the OED, Barnhart and Merriam-Webster, as ''canoa'').^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1995)^(MW Collegiate)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ In the 16th and 17th centuries English used many forms taken from different European languages, such as ''canoa'', ''canow'', ''cano'' and ''cannoe'';^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline) ''canoe'' was settled on by the 18th century.^(Etymonline) Raleigh wrote of “the boate of one tree called the canoa”.^(Weekley 1921) From 1799 the word also meant a small light boat paddled for recreation.^(OED 1989) The verb is from 1794 (Merriam-Webster) or 1842 (the OED).^(MW Collegiate)^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1995) The American phrase ''to paddle one's own canoe'', to make one's way by one's own efforts, dates from 1828.^(Etymonline)^(RHWU)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1555 – ''canoa''.^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1995)^(MW Collegiate)

+ * 1590 – ''canow''.^(Barnhart 1995)

+ * 1794 – verb.^(MW Collegiate)

+ * 1799 – a light boat for recreation.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1828 – ''paddle one's own canoe''.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A light, narrow open boat with pointed ends, propelled by [[paddle|alt=paddles]].^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Collins 2023)

+ # ''(New Zealand)'' A Maori [[waka]].^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ===Verb===

+ # To travel in or paddle a canoe.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Collins 2023)

+ # To carry or send by canoe.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[canoeist]]

+ * [[canoe birch]]

+ * [[canoe slalom]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[kayak]]

+ * [[pirogue]]

+ * [[dugout]]

+ * [[waka]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}