canvas

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   A strong, rough cloth used for tents, sails, bags, and shoes.

   My summer shoes are made of canvas.

2. 2
   noun

   A piece of cloth stretched over a frame, used by artists for painting.

   She painted a moonlit harbour on the canvas.

3. 3
   noun

   A background or setting that gives scope for creative work.

   The author uses small-town life as a canvas for his stories.

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.

Topics