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 The noun canvas comes from the Latin cannabis by way of the Greek kannabis, meaning “hemp," which it was originally made of.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

One of the stolen artworks is a vertical oil painting on canvas dating back to around 1910 depicting French actress Gabrielle Colonna-Romano.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 8, 2026

The late filmmaker made the city his creative canvas.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 3, 2026

“If I say ‘Here’s a blank canvas, write me such and such,’ would that just be a melange of millions of other scripts?

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 26, 2026

It said a lot of work would need to be carried out on the land despite being a "blank canvas", but new goats are expected to begin living there by spring 2027.

From BBC ● Aug. 25, 2026

In front of us a vast canvas tent-roof—no sides—covered an acre or more of straw-strewn ground.

From "The Hiding Place" by Corrie ten Boom

The lawsuit also accuses two men in Peru of painting fakes bearing Warhol’s signature and shipping canvases resembling Warhol’s 1983 portfolio of endangered species to Roberts’s gallery.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 12, 2026

Renoir is celebrated for his light-dappled canvases capturing 19th-century European leisure, high society and timeless figurative studies.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 8, 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

This started a discussion about art theft, and about how thieves sometimes cut canvases out of frames.

From "Chasing Vermeer" by Blue Balliett

Related Words

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