English
canicule
Canicule comes from French canicule ‘the dog days of late summer’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *ḱwṓ.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ḱwṓ1‘dog’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcanis2‘dog’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CECanicula3
- Frenchc. 1600–presentcanicule4‘the dog days of late summer’
- Englishearliest quotation 1846canicule4
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
- 1 Wiktionary, Latin canis
- 2 Wiktionary, Latin Canicula
- 3 Wiktionary, French canicule
- 4 Wiktionary, English canicule
- Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1846, Nathaniel Armstrong Wells: “In fact, the incompatibility of your nature, and that…”.
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ḱwṓWiktionary, Latin canis‘dog’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcanisWiktionary, Latin Canicula‘dog’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CECaniculaWiktionary, French canicule
- Frenchc. 1600–presentcaniculeWiktionary, English canicule‘the dog days of late summer’
- Englishearliest quotation 1846caniculeWiktionary, English canicule. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1846, Nathaniel Armstrong Wells: “In fact, the incompatibility of your nature, and that…”
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *ḱwṓ ‘dog’
hound, cynical, poodle, cynic, 9 more
through Latin canis ‘dog’
through Latin Canicula
Today it means
noun Synonym of dog days.
Sources
Sources: Wiktionary, “canicule”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Latin canis, Latin Canicula, French canicule. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *ḱwṓ / canicule