Where does the word canal come from

[seaandland]

Just wandering

[Christine]

From the Latin I guess: canalis

[waterpipe , channel, canal].

[NB Alnwick]

From the Latin I guess: canalis

[waterpipe , channel, canal].

 

And where does the word 'canalis' come from?

[Machpoint005]

And where does the word 'canalis' come from?

Rome!

[Yoda]

Rome!

 

Where all canals lead to!

[koukouvagia]

And where does the word 'canalis' come from?

 

 

Depends how far back you want to go. The late Latin 'canalis', meaning a ‘hollow pipe’ or ‘groove’ is cognate with the classical Greek word ‘chanein’ meaning ‘to gape open’ and this ultimately goes back to the Sanskrit root ‘khan’ meaning ‘to dig’.

Edited August 28, 2009 by koukouvagia

[Yoda]

Depends how far back you want to go. The late Latin 'canalis', meaning a ‘hollow pipe’ or ‘groove’ is cognate with the classical Greek word ‘chanein’ meaning ‘to gape open’ and this ultimately goes back to the Sanscrit root ‘khan’ meaning ‘to dig’.

 

Correct but I'm not sure that in Sanscript, khan is the right word. Perhaps today it is.

[Night Hawk]

Correct but I'm not sure that in Sanscript, khan is the right word. Perhaps today it is.

 

Oh

Edited August 29, 2009 by Night Hawk

[AMModels]

lmao

[Mick_B]

Just wandering

Where are you wandering to?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

coat.....

[Tiny]

That canali word is why some thought there were canals on Mars. The Italian who first saw marks on the surface said he could maybe see lines like canali - as in channels. But dreamers said canali means canals so these are canals with boats and people must be there.

 

Given the image they looked at was not much bigger than this it is amazing how much they thought they saw.

 

Incidentally the only other planet in our solar system with barges which move regularly is Jupiter. (The name is used for barge shaped marking the move about along Jupiters cloud belts.

[Malarky]

I suppose where a canal ends and draws a blank is a canus then.

[Nemesis]

Well, if you remove the leading 'c' you are left with 'anals'. Now, if you remove the trailing 's', you are left with 'anal' - now, do a search on that.......

 

PS I am off to bed now - sorry for any 'side effects' caused by Tesco's best red tonight --- Happy Bank Holidat to all......

[tomsk]

Clearly, the origins of the word stem from a linguistic liason between the words 'can' being the metallic container that you throw out of your galley window or slip surruptisiously (spelling) over the stern, along with various other domestic detritus, and 'al', being a contraction from the Latin 'et al' meaning 'any other crap you want rid of smartish via the medium of lobbing it in the Navigation.

[magpie patrick]

Getting back to being slightly more serious, we were actually having this debate while on our recent holiday in the Basque region. In Spain, and I think France, the word Canal means both an artificial waterway and a channel, hence the TV version Canal Plus which sadly is not the Grand Union in high definition. In Spain there are many canals, but most of them are irrigation channels (one notable exception is the Canal de Castille, which was navigable). We've ended up with two distinct meanings, with canal being navigable and other versions (including channel) usually not (e.g. drainage channel)

 

edited to add: for the pedants, while we have navigable channels and unnavigable canals these usually need the qualification. A canal or a navigable channel: a channel or an un-navigable canal

Edited September 2, 2009 by magpie patrick

[mayalld]

Rome!

 

And what did the Romans ever do for us?

[Nine of Hearts]

Depends how far back you want to go. The late Latin 'canalis', meaning a ‘hollow pipe’ or ‘groove’ is cognate with the classical Greek word ‘chanein’ meaning ‘to gape open’ and this ultimately goes back to the Sanskrit root ‘khan’ meaning ‘to dig’.

 

Interesting that the word comes from the root "to dig". Note that they also look like grooves cut in the earth. So not only can you "dig them", they are also "groovey". Is there a hippy connection?

[Matthew Knowles]

Depends how far back you want to go. The late Latin 'canalis', meaning a ‘hollow pipe’ or ‘groove’ is cognate with the classical Greek word ‘chanein’ meaning ‘to gape open’ and this ultimately goes back to the Sanskrit root ‘khan’ meaning ‘to dig’.

 

Genghis Dig just doesn't have the same ring to it eh?

[madcat]

Notable member of WRG,rape pillage and earthmoving a speciality.

[Machpoint005]

And what did the Romans ever do for us?

Apart from the aqueducts, you mean?