Meanings
- archaicpluralplural onlySynonym of dog days.
A forlyued cok leiþ eiren in his laste elde... and ȝif any venemous worme sittiþ on broode þerevppon in þe canyculer dayes, þerof is igendrid... a cocatrice.
a. 1398, John Trevisa, transl. Bartholomeus Anglicus as De Proprietatibus Rerum (MS BL Add. 27944), Vol. I, p. 628Synonyms: dog days
Synonyms & antonyms
nounSynonym of dog days.
More synonyms by meaning
nounthe hot period between early July and early September; a period of inactivity
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Ancient GreekΚῠ́ων“the Dog”
- Latindiēs caniculārēs
- Englishcanicular days
Calque of Latin diēs caniculārēs (literally “puppy days”), from Canīcula (“the Puppy”), a semantic loan of Ancient Greek Κῠ́ων (Kŭ́ōn, “the Dog”) in reference to Sirius, which appears in Epic Greek as κῠ́ων Ὠρίωνος (kŭ́ōn Ōríōnos, literally “Orion’s dog”) in its elided accusative form κύν’ Ὠρίωνος (kún’ Ōríōnos) in Iliad XXII.29.
More words from Latin, Ancient Greek
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
canicular days. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/canicular%20days
“canicular days.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/canicular%20days. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “canicular days,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/canicular%20days.
Source: canicular days on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.