Meanings
plural canthi · plural canthuses
- anatomyEither corner of the eye, where the eyelids meet.
the lowly East with its deer head (dark trace of long tear at inner canthus
1955, Vladimir Nabokov, Lolita2 more examples
I could sit here while the milk makes white shadows in its glass, while darkness mutters behind the window, and wait for a tear to show itself in the creased canthus of your eye.
2004, Andrew Sean Greer, The Confessions of Max Tivoli, Farrar, Straus and Giroux, page 263A ground electrode located between Fpz and Fz. The electro-oculogram (EOG) was recorded bipolarly from two electrodes placed at the outer canthi of the right eye and below the left eye.
2015 August 26, “Effects of Relaxing Music on Mental Fatigue Induced by a Continuous Performance Task: Behavioral and ERPs Evidence”, in PLOS ONE, →DOI
Origin
- Ancient Greekκανθός“corner of the eye”
- Latincanthus“corner of the eye”
- Englishcanthus
Borrowed from Latin canthus (“corner of the eye”), from Ancient Greek κανθός (kanthós, “corner of the eye”).
More words from Latin, Ancient Greek
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Ancient Greek κανθός
- κανθός (kanthós)corner of the eye, where the eyelids meet
Arabic مَأْق, مَأْقًى
- مَأْق (maʔq)corner of the eye, where the eyelids meet
- مَأْقًى (maʔqan)corner of the eye, where the eyelids meet
- لِحَاظ (liḥāẓ)corner of the eye, where the eyelids meet
Bulgarian кантус
- кантус (kantus)corner of the eye, where the eyelids meet
Catalan cua de l'ull
- cua de l'ullcorner of the eye, where the eyelids meet
Chinese Mandarin 眼角, 眥 /眦
- 眼角 (yǎnjiǎo)corner of the eye, where the eyelids meet
- 眥 /眦 (zì)corner of the eye, where the eyelids meet
Czech oční koutek
- oční koutekcorner of the eye, where the eyelids meet
Finnish silmäkulma
- silmäkulmacorner of the eye, where the eyelids meet
French canthus, coin de la paupière
- canthuscorner of the eye, where the eyelids meet
- coin de la paupièrecorner of the eye, where the eyelids meet
- coin de l'œilcorner of the eye, where the eyelids meet
German Lidwinkel, Augenwinkel
- Lidwinkelcorner of the eye, where the eyelids meet
- Augenwinkelcorner of the eye, where the eyelids meet
Greek κανθός
- κανθός (kanthós)corner of the eye, where the eyelids meet
Hawaiian luaʻuhane (only refers to medial canthus)
- luaʻuhane (only refers to medial canthus)corner of the eye, where the eyelids meet
Hungarian szemzug
- szemzugcorner of the eye, where the eyelids meet
Italian coda dell'occhio
- coda dell'occhiocorner of the eye, where the eyelids meet
Māori pī, pī o te karu
- pīcorner of the eye, where the eyelids meet
- pī o te karucorner of the eye, where the eyelids meet
Persian چشمگوشه
- چشمگوشهcorner of the eye, where the eyelids meet
Portuguese canto
- cantocorner of the eye, where the eyelids meet
Romanian cantus
- cantuscorner of the eye, where the eyelids meet
Swedish ögonvrå
- ögonvråcorner of the eye, where the eyelids meet
Rhymes & wordplay
Anagrams
Cite this entry
canthus. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/canthus
“canthus.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/canthus. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “canthus,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/canthus.
Source: canthus on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.