canvas

American  

[kan-vuhs] / ˈkæn vəs /

noun

• canvases
  plural

1. a closely woven, heavy cloth of cotton, hemp, or linen, used for tents, sails, etc.

2. a piece of this or similar material on which a painting is made.

3. a painting on canvas.

4. a tent, or tents collectively.

5. sailcloth.

6. sails collectively.

7. any fabric of linen, cotton, or hemp of a coarse loose weave used as a foundation for embroidery stitches, interlining, etc.

8. the floor of a boxing ring traditionally consisting of a canvas covering stretched over a mat.

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Trademark, Digital Technology.

1. Canvas, the brand name for an open-source learning management system, launched in 2011.

idioms

1. under canvas,

   1. Nautical. with set sails.

   2. in tents; in the field.

      the troops under canvas.

canvas British  

/ ˈkænvəs /

noun

1. 1. a heavy durable cloth made of cotton, hemp, or jute, used for sails, tents, etc

   2. ( as modifier )

      a canvas bag

2. 1. a piece of canvas or a similar material on which a painting is done, usually in oils

   2. a painting on this material, esp in oils

3. a tent or tents collectively

4. nautical any cloth of which sails are made

5. nautical the sails of a vessel collectively

6. any coarse loosely woven cloth on which embroidery, tapestry, etc, is done

7. the floor of a boxing or wrestling ring

8. rowing the tapering covered part at either end of a racing boat, sometimes referred to as a unit of length

   to win by a canvas

9. 1. in tents

   2. nautical with sails unfurled

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• canvaslike
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• canvases
  plural

Etymology

Origin of canvas

First recorded in 1225–75; Middle English canevas, from Anglo-French, Old North French, from unattested Vulgar Latin cannabāceus (noun use of adjective), equivalent to Latin cannab(is) + -āceus; see origin at hemp, -aceous

Explanation

Canvas is a heavy, coarse fabric artists paint on. It's also used to make sails, shoes, tents, or comfy director's chairs. It's a full-service fabric! The noun canvas comes from the Latin cannabis by way of the Greek kannabis, meaning “hemp," which it was originally made of. It usually refers to the canvas we paint on, but you could carry a canvas bag while wearing canvas Converse high-tops. Henry David Thoreau, the poet and philosopher, said, “The world is but a canvas to our imaginations.” Don't confuse it with canvass, with the extra "s" — that's when people try to chat to get your vote.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

canvas canvases

Then he eyed the canvas tote bag where I’d stashed a notepad and some audio gear.

From Slate ● Sep. 17, 2026

Garcia's left hook had been widely considered his most dangerous weapon before the fight, but it was a right hand which eventually sent Benn to the canvas.

From BBC ● Sep. 13, 2026

But sports were such a ubiquitous part of their lives that, naturally, they became a canvas for conveying those lessons.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 11, 2026

Writing a sci-fi twist on a tale of a “healing journey” allowed Benjamin to stretch her canvas.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 1, 2026

In his grimy Montmartre apartment, Picasso is doing something similar on canvas: he’s twisted space and time into something he calls cubism.

From "The Mona Lisa Vanishes" by Nicholas Day

He never shooed them away from his canvases, they say, and they grew up hearing him speak about art for hours during museum visits and at art fairs.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 15, 2026

Their settings and subjects further reveal that categorizing Church narrowly as a member of the Hudson River movement overlooks the fact that his canvases reflect a far broader swath of the world.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 31, 2026

Although his canvases typically sell for hundreds of thousands of dollars, when he completed a large mural for the Palestinian Museum, his requested fee was only a fig tree to be planted in the garden.

From BBC ● Aug. 26, 2026

Early in 2024, taggers began turning Oceanwide Plaza’s skyscrapers into canvases for graffiti.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 21, 2026

I tell myself I need to thank him, when I’m not busy drooling into the windows and hyperventilating over the oil paintings and watercolors and canvases as big as my garage door.

From "Starfish" by Akemi Dawn Bowman

Related Words

• art
• artwork
• picture
• piece
• portrait
• watercolor