canal

See also: Canal and canàl

English

A canal.

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

• IPA^(key): /kəˈnæl/

  • Audio (UK):

    (file)

  • Rhymes: -æl
• (Canada also) IPA^(key): /kəˈnɛl/
• (obsolete, nonstandard) IPA^(key): /kəˈnɔːl/

Noun

canal (plural canals)

1. An artificial waterway or artificially improved river used for travel, shipping, or irrigation.
2. (anatomy, botany) A tubular channel within the body or within a plant.
   • 2022 March 29, Karen McGee, “Stunning breakthrough: the platypus and echidnas came from the South Pole”, in Australian Geographic‎^[2]:

     The fossilised jaw of T. trusleri has a huge canal running through it and that’s believed to have carried all the nerve and related tissue needed for the sense of electroception.

3. (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
• canalage
• canal basin
• canal coal
• Canal Foot
• canalicule
• canaliferous
• canaliform
• canalise, canalize
• canaller
• canalman
• canal of Hering
• canal of Nuck
• canal of Schlemm
• canalogram
• canalography
• canalolith
• canalolithiasis
• canaloplasty
• canalotomy
• canalside
• Canal Street
• carpal canal
• central canal
• cervical canal
• cloud canal
• Corinth Canal
• ear canal
• external auditory canal
• femoral canal
• food canal
• Gaertner's canal
• Gartner's canal
• Haversian canal
• incisive canal
• inguinal canal
• intercanal
• internal auditory canal
• intracanal
• lacrimal canal
• Laurer's canal
• love canal
• mandibular canal
• minicanal
• nanocanal
• nerve of the pterygoid canal
• neural canal
• neurenteric canal
• noncanal
• Panama Canal
• pterygoid canal
• radial canal
• root canal
• sand canal
• Schlemm's canal
• semicircular canal
• ship canal
• spinal canal
• stone canal
• Suez Canal
• Tribeca
• triosseal canal
• vertebral canal

Related terms

• channel
• channelization
• channelize
• canalization

Descendants

• → Scottish Gaelic: canàl

Translations

artificial waterway

• Albanian: kanal (sq) m
• Amharic: ቦይ (boy)
• Arabic: قَنَاة f (qanāh)
• Armenian: ջրանցք (hy) (ǰrancʻkʻ)
• Assamese: খাল (khal), নলা (nola)
• Asturian: canal f
• Azerbaijani:

  Abjad: آرخ (arkh)

  Roman: arx (az), kanal (az)

• Basque: ubide
• Belarusian: кана́л m (kanál)
• Bengali: খাল (bn) (khal)
• Breton: kanol (br)
• Bulgarian: кана́л (bg) m (kanál)
• Burmese: မြောင်း (my) (mraung:), တူးမြောင်း (my) (tu:mraung:)
• Catalan: canal (ca) m
• Chagatai: اريق (ariq), آريغ (arigh)
• Chinese:

  Cantonese: 運河 / 运河 (wan⁶ ho⁴)

  Hokkien: 運河 / 运河 (zh-min-nan) (ūn-hô)

  Mandarin: 運河 / 运河 (zh) (yùnhé)

• Coptic:

  Akhmimic: ⲓⲟⲟⲣⲉ m (ioore)

  Bohairic: ⲓⲟⲣ m (ior)

  Fayyumic: ⲓⲁⲁⲗ m (iaal)

  Oxyrhynchite: ⲓⲁⲣ m (iar)

  Sahidic: ⲉⲓⲟⲟⲣ m (eioor)

• Cornish: kanel f
• Czech: kanál (cs) m, průplav (cs) m
• Danish: kanal (da) c
• Dutch: kanaal (nl) n, vaart (nl) f, gracht (nl) f (in a city, more commonly used in Holland)
• Esperanto: kanalo
• Estonian: kanal (et)
• Finnish: kanava (fi)
• French: canal (fr) m
• Galician: canal m, canle (gl) f
• Georgian: არხი (ka) (arxi)
• German: Kanal (de) m
• Greek: κανάλι (el) n (kanáli)

  Ancient: ὀχετός m (okhetós), διῶρυξ f (diôrux)

• Hawaiian: ʻauwai, alawai
• Hebrew: תְּעָלָה (he) f (te'ala), יְאוֹר (he) f (ye'ór)
• Hindi: नहर (hi) f (nahar), नाला (hi) m (nālā)
• Hungarian: csatorna (hu)
• Icelandic: skurður (is) m, síki n
• Indonesian: kanal (id), terusan (id)
• Ingrian: kanava
• Irish: canáil f
• Italian: canale (it) m
• Japanese: 運河 (ja) (うんが, unga), 水路 (ja) (すいろ, suiro)
• Kazakh: канал (kanal)
• Khmer: ប្រឡាយ (km) (prɑlaay), ព្រែកជីក (km) (prɛɛkciik)
• Korean: 운하 (ko) (unha)
• Kurdish:

  Central Kurdish: کەناڵ (kenall), جۆگە (coge)

  Northern Kurdish: co (ku) m, cihok (ku) m, cobar (ku) m

• Kyrgyz: канал (ky) (kanal)
• Lao: ຄອງ (lo) (khǭng), ຕະຄອງ (ta khǭng), ລຳຄອງ (lam khǭng)
• Latin: fossa f
• Latvian: kanāls (lv) m
• Lithuanian: kanalas (lt) m
• Low German:

  Dutch Low Saxon: daip n (Gronings), knoal n (Gronings and Sallands), wetering f (Sallands)

• Macedonian: канал m (kanal)
• Malay: terusan (ms)
• Maltese: kanal m
• Maori: wai tawaka
• Mongolian: суваг (mn) (suvag)
• Norman: canal m (Jersey)
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: kanal (no) m

  Nynorsk: kanal m

• Oromo: bo'oo
• Ottoman Turkish: ارغ (argh), آرق (arq), جدول (cedvel)
• Pennsylvania German: Kanaal
• Persian: کانال (fa) (kânâl), آب‌راه (fa) (âb-râh), مادی (fa) (mâdi) (Isfahani dialect)
• Polish: kanał (pl) m
• Portuguese: canal (pt) m
• Punjabi: ਨਹਿਰ f (nahir)
• Rarotongan: aravai, kauvai (for irrigation)
• Romanian: canal (ro) n
• Russian: кана́л (ru) m (kanál)
• Samoan: alavai (for irrigation)
• Sanskrit: खल्ल (sa) m (khalla), कुल्या (sa) f (kulyā)
• Scottish Gaelic: canàl m, sruth-chlais f
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: канал m

  Roman: kanal (sh) m

• Slovak: kanál m, prieplav
• Slovene: kanal m, prekop m
• Sorbian:

  Lower Sorbian: kanal m

• Spanish: canal (es) m or f, caz (es) m, cauz m
• Swahili: mfereji (sw)
• Swedish: kanal (sv) c
• Tajik: канал (tg) (kanal)
• Tamil: கால்வாய் (ta) (kālvāy)
• Telugu: కాలువ (te) (kāluva)
• Thai: คลอง (th) (klɔɔng), ลำน้ำ (lamnáam)
• Tocharian B: newiya
• Turkish: ark (tr), kanal (tr)
• Turkmen: kanal
• Ukrainian: кана́л (uk) m (kanál)
• Urdu: نہر (ur) f (nahar)
• Uyghur: قانال (qanal)
• Uzbek: kanal (uz)
• Venetan: val (vec) f, vałe f
• Vietnamese: kênh (vi), kênh đào
• Welsh: camlas
• Yiddish: קאַנאַל m (kanal), דורכגאָס m (durkhgos)

a tubular channel within the body

• Afrikaans: kanaal
• Bulgarian: канал (bg) m (kanal)
• Czech: kanálek m
• Dutch: kanaal (nl) n
• French: canal (fr) m
• German: Kanal (de) m, Gang (de) m
• Irish: conair f, canáil f
• Japanese: 管 (ja) (kan)
• Norman: canal m (Jersey)
• Polish: przewód (pl) m
• Romanian: canal (ro) n
• Slovak: kanálok m
• Spanish: canal (es) m or f
• Swedish: kanal (sv)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

• Afrikaans: ^{(please verify)} kanaal
• Galician: ^{(please verify)} canle (gl)
• Interlingua: ^{(please verify)} canal
• Isthmus Zapotec: ^{(please verify)} biasa
• Kurdish:

  Northern Kurdish: ^{(please verify)} cok (ku)

• Macedonian: ^{(please verify)} кана́л m (kanál)
• Samogitian: ^{(please verify)} kanals
• Swahili: ^{(please verify)} njia ya maji, ^{(please verify)} mfereji (sw)
• Turkish: ^{(please verify)} kanal (tr)

Verb

canal (third-person singular simple present canals, present participle canaling or canalling, simple past and past participle canaled or canalled)

1. To dig an artificial waterway in or to (a place), especially for drainage
   • 1968, Louisiana State University, Proceedings‎^[3], page 165:

     In the mangrove-type salt marsh, the entire marsh must be canaled or impounded.

2. To travel along a canal by boat
   • 1905, William Yoast Morgan, A Journey of a Jayhawker, page 211:

     Near Rotterdam we canalled by Delfthaven.

Anagrams

• Alcan, Clana, Nalca

Asturian

Etymology

Inherited from Latin canālis.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /kaˈnal/ [kaˈnal]
• Rhymes: -al
• Syllabification: ca‧nal

Noun

canal f (plural canales)

1. canal (artificial waterway)

Catalan

Etymology

Inherited from Latin canālis (“channel; canal”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Central, Balearic) [kəˈnal]
• IPA^(key): (Valencia) [kaˈnal]

• Audio (Barcelona):

  (file)

• Hyphenation: ca‧nal

Noun

canal m (plural canals)

1. canal (artificial passage for water)
2. channel
3. (anatomy) channel, tract

   canal digestiu ― digestive tract

Noun

canal f (plural canals)

1. roof gutter

   Synonyms: canaló, ràfec

2. (architecture) groove, fluting (of a column, etc.)

   Synonyms: estria, solc

3. crease, fold
4. (bookbinding) fore edge
5. carcass

Derived terms

• canalera
• canalitzar

Further reading

• “canal”, in Diccionari de la llengua catalana [Dictionary of the Catalan Language] (in Catalan), second edition, Institute of Catalan Studies [Catalan: Institut d'Estudis Catalans], April 2007
• “canal”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2025
• “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

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin canālis. Doublet of chenal.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ka.nal/

• Audio; “un canal”:

  (file)

• Audio (France (Paris)):

  (file)

• Audio (France (Vosges)):

  (file)

• Audio (France (Vosges)):

  (file)

• Audio (France (Somain)):

  (file)

Noun

canal m (plural canaux)

1. canal
2. channel (broadcasting: specific radio frequency or band of frequencies)

Derived terms

• canal nommé

Related terms

• chenal

Descendants

• → Persian: کانال (kânâl)
• → Romanian: canal
• → Turkish: kanal

See also

• chaîne

Further reading

• “canal”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

Anagrams

• lança

Galician

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /kaˈnal/ [kɑˈnɑɫ]
• Rhymes: -al
• Hyphenation: ca‧nal

Etymology 1

Inherited from Old Galician-Portuguese canal (13th century, Cantigas de Santa Maria): cana (“cane, reed”) +‎ -al. Cognate with Spanish cañal.

Alternative forms

• canar

Noun

canal m (plural canais)

1. (dated) fish-weir; place or installation for fishing, on a river

   Synonyms: caneiro, pesqueira

   • 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

Etymology 2

Learned borrowing from Latin canalis. Doublet of canle and cal.

Noun

canal m (plural canais)

1. canal
2. channel

References

• Seoane, Ernesto Xosé González; Granja, María Álvarez de la; Agrelo, Ana Isabel Boullón (2006–2022), “canal”, in Dicionario de Dicionarios do galego medieval [Dictionary of dictionaries of Medieval Galician] (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Barreiro, Xavier Varela; Guinovart, Xavier Gómez (2006–2018), “canal”, in Corpus Xelmírez: corpus lingüístico da Galicia medieval [Corpus Xelmírez: linguistic corpus of Medieval Galicia] (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Barreiro, Xavier Varela; Guinovart, Xavier Gómez (2006–2018), “canar”, in Corpus Xelmírez: corpus lingüístico da Galicia medieval [Corpus Xelmírez: linguistic corpus of Medieval Galicia] (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Antón Luís Santamarina Fernández, editor (2006–2013), “canal”, in Dicionario de Dicionarios da lingua galega [Dictionary of Dictionaries of the Galician language] (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Antón Luís Santamarina Fernández, Ernesto Xosé González Seoane, María Álvarez de la Granja, editors (2003–2018), “canal”, in Tesouro informatizado da lingua galega (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Rosario Álvarez Blanco, editor (2014–2024), “canal”, in Tesouro do léxico patrimonial galego e portugués (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega, →ISSN

Norman

Etymology

From Old French canal, from Latin canālis (“channel; canal”).

Noun

canal m (plural canaux)

1. (Jersey) canal

Portuguese

canal

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]

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /kɐˈnal/ [kɐˈnaɫ]
  • (Southern Portugal) IPA^(key): /kɐˈna.li/

• Audio (Brazil (Caipira)):

  (file)

• Rhymes: (Portugal) -al, (Brazil) -aw
• Hyphenation: ca‧nal

Noun

canal m (plural canais)

1. ditch

   Synonyms: canaleta, vala, valeta

2. canal (artificial waterway)
3. (radio) channel (broadcasting: specific radio frequency or band of frequencies)
4. (television) television channel

Derived terms

• (canal): canal do Panamá

Related terms

• cale
• calha

Romanian

Etymology

Borrowed from French canal, Latin canālis.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /kaˈnal/

• Audio:

  (file)

Noun

canal n (plural canale or canaluri)

1. (plural canaluri) canal
2. channel

Declension

Declension of canal

	singular			plural
	indefinite	definite		indefinite	definite
nominative-accusative	canal	canalul		canale	canalele
genitive-dative	canal	canalului		canale	canalelor
vocative	canalule			canalelor

Declension of canal

	singular			plural
	indefinite	definite		indefinite	definite
nominative-accusative	canal	canalul		canaluri	canalurile
genitive-dative	canal	canalului		canaluri	canalurilor
vocative	canalule			canalurilor

Further reading

• “canal”, in DEX online—Dicționare ale limbii române (Dictionaries of the Romanian language) (in Romanian), 2004–2025

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)

1. canal, flume, waterway (artificial)
2. channel (wide strait)
3. (communication) channel
4. (chemistry) channel
5. cleavage

Hyponyms

• (canal): canal de Panamá
• (channel): canal de Jamaica
• (channel): canal de la Mancha
• (channel): canal de Mozambique
• (channel): canal del Norte (“North Channel”)

Derived terms

• acanalar
• canal de parto
• canal de televisión
• canaleta
• canalizar
• canalón

Descendants

• → Tagalog: kanal

Further reading

• “canal”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 10 December 2024

Venetan

Etymology

From Latin canālis.

Noun

canal m (plural canałi)

1. canal
2. channel (all senses)