Meanings
canal1
nouncanal (plural canals)
plural canals
- An artificial waterway or artificially improved river used for travel, shipping, or irrigation.
- anatomyA tubular channel within the body or within a plant.
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.
2022 March 29, Karen McGee, “Stunning breakthrough: the platypus and echidnas came from the South Pole”, in Australian Geographic - astronomyOne of the faint, hazy markings resembling straight lines on early telescopic images of the surface of Mars; see Martian canals
verbcanal (third-person singular simple present canals, present participle canalling, simple past and past participle canalled)
present singular third person canals · participle present canalling · participle past canalled · past canalled
- To travel along a canal by boat
Near Rotterdam we canalled by Delfthaven.
1905, William Yoast Morgan, A Journey of a Jayhawker, page 211
Canal2
Synonyms & antonyms
nouna bodily passage or tube lined with epithelial cells and conveying a secretion or other substance
Similar
Broader
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Akkadian𒄀“reed”
- Ancient Greekκάννα“reed”
- Latincanālis“channel, canal, narrow passage”
- Old Frenchcanal
- Middle Frenchcanal
- Englishcanal
Borrowed from Middle French canal, from Old French canal, from Latin canālis (“channel, canal, narrow passage”), from canna (“reed, cane”), from Ancient Greek κάννα (kánna, “reed”), from Akkadian 𒄀 (qanû, “reed”). Doublet of channel. See also cane and -al.
More words from Middle French, Old French, Latin
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Afrikaans kanaal
- kanaala tubular channel within the body
Ancient Greek ὀχετός, διῶρυξ
- ὀχετός (okhetós)artificial waterway
- διῶρυξ (diôrux)artificial waterway
Arabic قَنَاة
- قَنَاة (qanāh)artificial waterway
Basque ubide
- ubideartificial waterway
Bengali খাল
- খাল (khal)artificial waterway
Bulgarian кана́л, канал
- кана́л (kanál)artificial waterway
- канал (kanal)a tubular channel within the body
Catalan canal
- canalartificial waterway
Chinese Cantonese 運河 /运河
- 運河 /运河 (wan⁶ ho⁴)artificial waterway
Chinese Mandarin 運河 /运河
- 運河 /运河 (yùnhé)artificial waterway
Czech kanál, průplav
- kanálartificial waterway
- průplavartificial waterway
- kanáleka tubular channel within the body
Danish kanal
- kanalartificial waterway
Dutch kanaal, vaart
- kanaalartificial waterway
- vaartartificial waterway
- grachtartificial waterway
- kanaala tubular channel within the body
Esperanto kanalo
- kanaloartificial waterway
Estonian kanal
- kanalartificial waterway
Finnish kanava
- kanavaartificial waterway
French canal, canal
- canalartificial waterway
- canala tubular channel within the body
German Kanal, Kanal
- Kanalartificial waterway
- Kanala tubular channel within the body
- Ganga tubular channel within the body
Greek κανάλι
- κανάλι (kanáli)artificial waterway
Hawaiian ʻauwai, alawai
- ʻauwaiartificial waterway
- alawaiartificial waterway
Hebrew תְּעָלָה, יְאוֹר
- תְּעָלָה (te'ala)artificial waterway
- יְאוֹר (ye'ór)artificial waterway
Hindi नहर, नाला
- नहर (nahar)artificial waterway
- नाला (nālā)artificial waterway
Hungarian csatorna
- csatornaartificial waterway
Icelandic skurður, síki
- skurðurartificial waterway
- síkiartificial waterway
Indonesian kanal, terusan
- kanalartificial waterway
- terusanartificial waterway
Irish canáil, conair
- canáilartificial waterway
- conaira tubular channel within the body
- canáila tubular channel within the body
Italian canale
- canaleartificial waterway
Japanese 運河, 水路
- 運河 (unga)artificial waterway
- 水路 (suiro)artificial waterway
- 管 (kan)a tubular channel within the body
Korean 운하
- 운하 (unha)artificial waterway
Latin fossa
- fossaartificial waterway
Latvian kanāls
- kanālsartificial waterway
Lithuanian kanalas
- kanalasartificial waterway
Malay terusan
- terusanartificial waterway
Māori wai tawaka
- wai tawakaartificial waterway
Norwegian Bokmål kanal
- kanalartificial waterway
Persian کانال, آبراه
- کانال (kânâl)artificial waterway
- آبراه (âb-râh)artificial waterway
- مادی (mâdi)artificial waterway
Polish kanał, przewód
- kanałartificial waterway
- przewóda tubular channel within the body
Portuguese canal
- canalartificial waterway
Punjabi ਨਹਿਰ
- ਨਹਿਰ (nahir)artificial waterway
Romanian canal, canal
- canalartificial waterway
- canala tubular channel within the body
Russian кана́л
- кана́л (kanál)artificial waterway
Scottish Gaelic canàl, sruth-chlais
- canàlartificial waterway
- sruth-chlaisartificial waterway
Slovak kanál, prieplav
- kanálartificial waterway
- prieplavartificial waterway
- kanáloka tubular channel within the body
Spanish canal, caz
- canalartificial waterway
- cazartificial waterway
- cauzartificial waterway
- canala tubular channel within the body
Swahili mfereji
- mferejiartificial waterway
Swedish kanal, kanal
- kanalartificial waterway
- kanala tubular channel within the body
Tamil கால்வாய், வாய்க்கால்
- கால்வாய் (kālvāy)artificial waterway
- வாய்க்கால் (vāykkāl)artificial waterway
Thai คลอง, ลำน้ำ
- คลอง (klɔɔng)artificial waterway
- ลำน้ำ (lamnáam)artificial waterway
Turkish ark, kanal
- arkartificial waterway
- kanalartificial waterway
- kanala tubular channel within the body
- mecraa tubular channel within the body
Ukrainian кана́л
- кана́л (kanál)artificial waterway
Urdu نہر
- نہر (nahar)artificial waterway
Vietnamese kênh, kênh đào
- kênhartificial waterway
- kênh đàoartificial waterway
Welsh camlas
- camlasartificial waterway
Yiddish קאַנאַל, דורכגאָס
- קאַנאַל (kanal)artificial waterway
- דורכגאָס (durkhgos)artificial waterway
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with canal
shallalmallcalvalpallocalehalgalrationalepascalmalsalmoraleLasallecorralchaparralchoralehalalchalbanalBaikalCattrallrale
All rhymes →Anagrams
Cite this entry
APA
canal. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/canal
MLA
“canal.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/canal. Accessed November 3, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “canal,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/canal.
Source: canal on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.