n.
(pl. canvases or canvasses)
- a strong, coarse unbleached cloth used to make sails, tents, etc. and as a surface for oil painting.
▸a piece of canvas prepared for use as the surface for an oil painting.
▸
(the canvas)
the floor of a boxing or wrestling ring, having a canvas covering.
- either of a racing boat's tapering ends, originally covered with canvas.
v.
(canvases, canvassing, canvassed; US canvases, canvasing, canvased)
cover with canvas.
Phrase
- under canvas
- in a tent or tents.
- with sails spread.
History
The word canvas came into Middle English, via Old Northern French canevas, from the Latin name for hemp, cannabis: hemp is the raw material traditionally used in making canvas, and is also the source of cannabis itself. The noun canvas (earlier spelled with a double -s) is also linked with the verb canvass, which originally meant ‘toss in a canvas sheet’ (a practice carried out both in fun and as a punishment); canvass then came to mean ‘assault, attack’ or ‘criticize’, and later ‘scrutinize in order to reject invalid votes’, from which developed the modern sense, ‘solicit votes’.
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