English Explanatory Dictionary

canvas

English dictionary entry

Meanings

noun
  1. A type of coarse cloth, woven from hemp (traditionally) or from cotton and polyesters, useful for making sails, tents, and overcoats or as a surface for paintings.
  2. A piece of such cloth stretched across a frame on which one may paint an artwork.
  3. A mesh of loosely woven cotton strands or molded plastic to be decorated with needlepoint, cross-stitch, rug hooking, or other crafts.
  4. A basis for creative work.
  5. A region on which graphics can be rendered.
  6. Sails in general.
  7. A tent.
  8. A rough draft or model of a song, air, or other literary or musical composition; especially one to show a poet the measure of the verses he is to make.
  9. Athletic shoes.
verb
  1. To cover (an area or object) with canvas.
verb
  1. Obsolete spelling of canvass.
noun
  1. Obsolete spelling of canvass.

Pronunciation

/ˈkænvəs/ LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-canvass.wav En-us-canvas.ogg /ˈkænvæs/ /ˈkanvɑs/

Word forms

canvas canvases canvasses canvass canvasing canvased

Etymology

From Middle English canevas, from Anglo-Norman, from Old Northern French canevas (compare Old French chanevas, chenevas) from a root derived from Latin cannabis, from Ancient Greek κάνναβις (kánnabis). Compare French canevas, resulting from a blend of the Old French and a Picard dialect word, itself from Old Northern French. Doublet of cannabis and hemp.

Derived words

blank canvas canvasback canvasboard canvasful canvasless canvaslike canvasman canvassy Canvastown canvaswork empty canvas Java canvas new canvas noncanvas on the canvas under canvas value proposition canvas canvassable recanvas
This entry uses open data from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA/GFDL). Word forms are used for search and are not indexed as separate pages.
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