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.

Appears in

Simplified etymology

Canvas entered Middle English from Latin cannabis, by way of Greek kannabis, because the fabric was made from cannabis or hemp fiber. The Greek term was probably borrowed from another language whose identity is uncertain.

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

External links

• Google Images
• Cambridge Dictionary
• Wiktionary