canal

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.

noun

1. An artificial waterway or artificially improved river used for travel, shipping, or irrigation.
2. (anatomy) A tubular channel within the body.
3. (astronomy) One of the faint, hazy markings resembling straight lines on early telescopic images of the surface of Mars; see Martian canals

verb

1. To dig an artificial waterway in or to (a place), especially for drainage
   In the mangrove-type salt marsh, the entire marsh must be canaled or impounded. 1968, Louisiana State University, Proceedings, page 165
2. To travel along a canal by boat
   Near Rotterdam we canalled by Delfthaven. 1905, William Yoast Morgan, A Journey of a Jayhawker, page 211