canal
English

Etymology
Borrowed from Middle French canal, from Old French canal, from Latin canālis (“channel; canal”), from canālis (“canal”), from canna (“reed, cane”), from Ancient Greek κάννα (kánna, “reed”), from Akkadian 𒄀 (qanû, “reed”), from Sumerian 𒄀𒈾 (gi.na). Doublet of channel.
Pronunciation
Audio (UK) (file) - IPA(key): /kəˈnæl/
- (Canada) IPA(key): /kəˈnæl/, /kəˈnɛl/
- Rhymes: -æl
Noun
canal (plural canals)
- An artificial waterway or artificially improved river used for travel, shipping, or irrigation.
- (anatomy) A tubular channel within the body.
- (astronomy) One of the faint, hazy markings resembling straight lines on early telescopic images of the surface of Mars; see Martian canals
Usage notes
- Occasionally applied to similar natural waterways, such as Hood Canal.
Derived terms
- alar canal
- alimentary canal
- auditory canal
- birth canal
- C&D Canal
- canal basin
- canal coal
- Canal Foot
- canalise, canalize
- canal of Hering
- canal of Nuck
- canal of Schlemm
- carpal canal
- central canal
- cervical canal
- cloud canal
- ear canal
- food canal
- Gaertner's canal
- Gartner's canal
- Haversian canal
- incisive canal
- inguinal canal
- internal auditory canal
- lacrimal canal
- Laurer's canal
- love canal
- mandibular canal
- nerve of the pterygoid canal
- neural canal
- neurenteric canal
- Panama Canal
- pterygoid canal
- radial canal
- root canal
- sand canal
- Schlemm's canal
- semicircular canal
- ship canal
- spinal canal
- stone canal
- Suez Canal
- triosseal canal
- vertebral canal
Related terms
Descendants
- → Scottish Gaelic: canàl
Translations
|
|
- The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
|
Catalan
Noun
canal m (plural canals)
Noun
canal f (plural canals)
Derived terms
- canalera
- canalitzar
Further reading
- “canal” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.
- “canal”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2024
- “canal” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
- “canal” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.
French
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ka.nal/
audio (un canal) (file)
Noun
canal m (plural canaux)
Derived terms
Related terms
See also
Further reading
- “canal”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.
Anagrams
Galician
Etymology 1
From Old Galician-Portuguese canal (13th century, Cantigas de Santa Maria): cana (“cane, reed”) + -al. Cognate with Spanish cañal.
Alternative forms
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /kaˈnal/
Noun
canal m (plural canais)
- (dated) fish-weir; place or installation for fishing, on a river
- 1375, A. López Ferreiro, editor, Galicia Histórica. Colección diplomática, Santiago: Tipografía Galaica, page 385:
- V casares en Cesar os quaes fforon de Mayor Aras moller de Martin Sanchez Xarpa com huum paaço et con huum canal enno Tamare.
- 5 farmhouses in Cesar, which belonged to Maior Aras, wife of Martín Sánchez Xarpa, with a manor and a fishery on the river Tambre
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /kaˈnal/
References
- “canal” in Dicionario de Dicionarios do galego medieval, SLI - ILGA 2006–2022.
- “canal” in Xavier Varela Barreiro & Xavier Gómez Guinovart: Corpus Xelmírez - Corpus lingüístico da Galicia medieval. SLI / Grupo TALG / ILG, 2006–2018.
- “canar” in Xavier Varela Barreiro & Xavier Gómez Guinovart: Corpus Xelmírez - Corpus lingüístico da Galicia medieval. SLI / Grupo TALG / ILG, 2006–2018.
- “canal” in Dicionario de Dicionarios da lingua galega, SLI - ILGA 2006–2013.
- “canal” in Tesouro informatizado da lingua galega. Santiago: ILG.
- “canal” in Álvarez, Rosario (coord.): Tesouro do léxico patrimonial galego e portugués, Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega.
Norman
Etymology
From Old French canal, from Latin canālis (“channel; canal”).
Portuguese

Etymology
From Old Galician-Portuguese canal, from Latin canālis (“canal”), from canna (“reed, cane”), from Ancient Greek κάννα (kánna, “reed”), from Akkadian 𒄀 (qanû, “reed”), from Sumerian 𒄀𒈾 (gi.na). This form may possibly be an early borrowing or semi-learned term; compare the fully inherited doublet cale, and related calha.
Pronunciation
- (Brazil) IPA(key): /kaˈnaw/ [kaˈnaʊ̯]
- (Portugal) IPA(key): /kɐˈnal/ [kɐˈnaɫ]
- (Southern Portugal) IPA(key): /kɐˈna.li/
- Rhymes: (Portugal) -al, (Brazil) -aw
- Hyphenation: ca‧nal
Noun
canal m (plural canais)
- ditch
- canal (artificial waterway)
- (radio) channel (broadcasting: specific radio frequency or band of frequencies)
- (television) television channel
Derived terms
- (canal): canal do Panamá
Romanian
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /kaˈnal/
Audio (file)
Declension
Further reading
- canal in DEX online—Dicționare ale limbii române (Dictionaries of the Romanian language)
Spanish
Etymology
Inherited from Old Spanish canal, from Latin canālis (“channel; canal”).
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /kaˈnal/ [kaˈnal]
Audio (Colombia): (file) - Rhymes: -al
- Syllabification: ca‧nal
Noun
canal m (plural canales)
Hyponyms
- (canal): canal de Panamá
- (channel): canal de Jamaica
- (channel): canal de la Mancha
- (channel): canal de Mozambique
- (channel): canal del Norte (“North Channel”)
Descendants
- → Tagalog: kanal
Further reading
- “canal”, in Diccionario de la lengua española, Vigésima tercera edición, Real Academia Española, 2014