canopy

American  

[kan-uh-pee] / ˈkæn ə pi /

noun

• canopies
  plural

1. a covering, usually of fabric, supported on poles or suspended above a bed, throne, exalted personage, or sacred object.

2. an overhanging projection or covering, as a long canvas awning stretching from the doorway of a building to a curb.

3. an ornamental, rooflike projection or covering.

4. Also called crown cover, crown canopy;. the cover formed by the leafy upper branches of the trees in a forest.

5. the sky.

6. the part of a parachute that opens up and fills with air, usually made of nylon or silk.

7. the transparent cover over the cockpit of an airplane.

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verb (used with object)

canopied, canopying

1. to cover with or as with a canopy.

   Branches canopied the road.

canopy British  

/ ˈkænəpɪ /

noun

1. an ornamental awning above a throne or bed or held over a person of importance on ceremonial occasions

2. a rooflike covering over an altar, niche, etc

3. a roofed structure serving as a sheltered passageway or area

4. a large or wide covering, esp one high above

   the sky was a grey canopy

5. the nylon or silk hemisphere that forms the supporting surface of a parachute

6. the transparent cover of an aircraft cockpit

7. the highest level of branches and foliage in a forest, formed by the crowns of the trees

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verb

1. (tr) to cover with or as if with a canopy

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• supercanopy
  noun
• uncanopied
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• canopies
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of canopy

1350–1400; Middle English canope < Medieval Latin canōpēum, variant of Latin cōnōpēum mosquito net < Greek kōnōpeîon bed with net to keep gnats off, equivalent to kṓnōp ( s ) gnat + -eion, neuter of -eios adj. suffix

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Explanation

A canopy is a roof-like covering for a bed, made of fabric. A lot of little girls dream of having a four-poster bed with a ruffled canopy. Any fabric cover that acts as a roof can be called a canopy, and so can something resembling such a covering, like a canopy of leaves created by trees. The Greek word that's at the root of canopy is konopeion, which means "Egyptian couch with mosquito curtains." The Old French conope, which evolved into today's canopy, originally meant "bed-curtain."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

canopy canopies canopied canopying

In 2015 researchers used it to find a network of previously unknown “garden cities,” small settlements that were well-integrated into the natural landscape, hidden beneath the Amazon canopy.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 14, 2026

Pete believes getting a view above the tree canopy quickly could prove critical.

From BBC ● Oct. 10, 2026

Aboard the popemobile, the smiling pontiff blessed several babies and waved to worshippers, as he made his way from the Arc de Triomphe to Place de la Concorde, where a giant white canopy was installed.

From Barron's ● Sep. 26, 2026

But many regions have lost their oak canopy.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 19, 2026

Only a few brave shafts of light could pierce the jungle’s canopy here, and new sounds filled the space around him.

From "Beasts of Prey" by Ayana Gray

Building sites, for example, must provide workers with suitable clothing such as jackets with built-in fans, as well as air-conditioned break rooms and canopies to ensure shade.

From Barron's ● Aug. 25, 2026

I saw canopies of Iraqi flags, bodies out every window, everyone dancing to a faint hip-hop pulse.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 24, 2026

They also used instruments that measured CO2 levels in tree canopies every hour and sensors attached to tree trunks that tracked tiny changes in trunk size throughout the day.

From Science Daily ● Jul. 9, 2026

Newport Beach now prohibits canopies larger than 6 feet by 6 feet and requires that the structures not be connected.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 5, 2026

What had they been when their colossal canopies had reached for the sky?

From "Flying Through Water" by Mamle Wolo

The city seal is a tree and residents say the canopied streets are major contributors to the quality of life.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 12, 2026

The result: a towering, canopied staging area built on the beach that took a week to erect and a week to take down.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 25, 2023

Surrounded by hundreds of police officers and supporters, they hunker down inside a canopied structure made of blue tarpaulin sheets that serves as a tent.

From BBC ● May 22, 2023

I want her world to be canopied by moonlight and the breathtaking Milky Way.

From Washington Post ● Feb. 1, 2023

When they pulled up alongside the Manhattan, Pocock found that the dock was a jumble of offices, storage sheds, stacks of cargo, and canopied gangways for passengers.

From "The Boys in the Boat: Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics" by Daniel James Brown

Under the canopying smoke of London or Edinburgh, even amongst the beautiful fields of England or Scotland, there is nothing to be made of him.

From Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, Volume 57, No. 354, April 1845 by Various

The latter had become known at the Nest, solely by the circumstance that the object which had so lately canopied aristocracy in St. Andrew's, Ravensrest, was now canopying pigs up at the farm house.

From The Chainbearer Or, The Littlepage Manuscripts by James Fenimore Cooper

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