Etymograph

English

channel

Channel comes from Latin canālis ‘groove’, from canna ‘reed, cane’, and ultimately from Akkadian 𒂵𒉡𒌑𒌝.

  1. Akkadianc. 2500–100 BCE𒂵𒉡𒌑𒌝1qanûm‘reed’
  2. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEκᾰ́ννᾰ1‘reed’
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcanna2‘reed’
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcanālis3‘groove’
  5. Old Frenchc. 842–1400chanel3
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500chanel3
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1790channel3

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Latin canna
  2. 2 Wiktionary, Latin canalis
  3. 3 Wiktionary, English channel
  4. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1790, Edmund Burke, Reflections on the Revolution in France: “At best, he is but a channel to convey…”.

Lineage

  1. Akkadianc. 2500–100 BCE𒂵𒉡𒌑𒌝Wiktionary, Latin cannaqanûm‘reed’
  2. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEκᾰ́ννᾰWiktionary, Latin canna‘reed’
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcannaWiktionary, Latin canalis‘reed’
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcanālisWiktionary, English channel‘groove’
  5. Old Frenchc. 842–1400chanelWiktionary, English channel
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500chanelWiktionary, English channel
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1790channelWiktionary, English channel. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1790, Edmund Burke, Reflections on the Revolution in France: “At best, he is but a channel to convey…”

Word family

English words that share an ancestor with channel, grouped by the ancestor they share, most familiar first.

through Akkadian 𒂵𒉡𒌑𒌝 ‘reed’

  • canon ← canoun ← κανών ← κάννα
  • canister ← canustyr ← canistrum ← κάναστρον ← κάννα
  • kanon ← κᾰνών ← κάννα

through Latin canna ‘reed, cane’

through Latin canālis ‘groove’

23 more relatives in the full family tree

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Another origin of channel

  1. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500chanelen
  2. Englishtodaychannel

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Today it means

noun The hollow bed of running waters; (also) the bed of the sea or other body of water.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “channel”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Latin canna, Latin canalis. 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 / Akkadian 𒂵𒉡𒌑𒌝 / channel