# 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: /kəˈnæl/
* (Canada) IPA: /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
* 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

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

### Verb

canal (third-person singular simple present canals, present participle canaling or canalling, simple past and past participle canaled or canalled)
* To dig an artificial waterway in or to (a place), especially for drainage
** 1968, Louisiana State University, Proceedings‎, page 165:In the mangrove-type salt marsh, the entire marsh must be canaled or impounded.
* 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: /kaˈnal/ [kaˈnal]
* Rhymes: -al
* Syllabification: ca‧nal

### Noun

canal f (plural canales)
* canal (artificial waterway)

## Catalan
### Etymology

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

### Pronunciation

* IPA: (Central, Balearic) [kəˈnal]
* IPA: (Valencia) [kaˈnal]
* Hyphenation: ca‧nal

### Noun

canal m (plural canals)
* canal (artificial passage for water)
* channel
* (anatomy) channel, tract
    canal digestiu ― digestive tract

### Noun

canal f (plural canals)
* roof gutter
    Synonyms: canaló, ràfec
* (architecture) groove, fluting (of a column, etc.)
    Synonyms: estria, solc
* crease, fold
* (bookbinding) fore edge
* carcass

#### 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, 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: /ka.nal/
* Audio; “un canal”:(file)

### Noun

canal m (plural canaux)
* canal
* 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: /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)
* (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)
* canal
* channel

### References

* Ernesto Xosé González Seoane, María Álvarez de la Granja, Ana Isabel Boullón Agrelo (2006–2022) “canal”, in Dicionario de Dicionarios do galego medieval (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
* Xavier Varela Barreiro, Xavier Gómez Guinovart (2006–2018) “canal”, in Corpus Xelmírez - Corpus lingüístico da Galicia medieval (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
* Xavier Varela Barreiro, Xavier Gómez Guinovart (2006–2018) “canar”, in Corpus Xelmírez - Corpus lingüístico da Galicia medieval (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)
* (Jersey) 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: /kaˈnaw/ [kaˈnaʊ̯]
* (Portugal) IPA: /kɐˈnal/ [kɐˈnaɫ]
* (Portugal) IPA: /kɐˈnal/ [kɐˈnaɫ]
** (Southern Portugal) IPA: /kɐˈna.li/
* Rhymes: (Portugal) -al, (Brazil) -aw
* Hyphenation: ca‧nal

### Noun

canal m (plural canais)
* ditch
    Synonyms: canaleta, vala, valeta
* canal (artificial waterway)
* (radio) channel (broadcasting: specific radio frequency or band of frequencies)
* (television) television channel

#### Derived terms

* (canal): canal do Panamá

#### Related terms

* cale
* calha

## Romanian
### Etymology

Borrowed from French canal, Latin canālis.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /kaˈnal/
* Audio:(file)

### Noun

canal n (plural canale or canaluri)
* (plural canaluri) canal
* channel

#### 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: /kaˈnal/ [kaˈnal]
* Audio (Colombia):(file)
* Rhymes: -al
* Syllabification: ca‧nal

### Noun

canal m (plural canales)
* canal, flume, waterway (artificial)
* channel (wide strait)
* (communication) channel
* (chemistry) channel
* 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], 2024 December 10

## Venetan
### Etymology

From Latin canālis.

### Noun

canal m (plural canałi)
* canal
* channel (all senses)