canal
/kəˈnæl/noun, verb
canal is spelled C-A-N-A-L: 5 letters and 2 syllables. It appears 17 times per million words in written English, the 4,934th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, canal means “An artificial waterway or artificially improved river used for travel, shipping, or irrigation” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of canal is canals.
How many letters and syllables are in canal?
| Letters | 5: C-A-N-A-L |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 17 times per million words; the 4,934th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Rhymes with |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is canal?
Canal appears 17 times per million words in written English, the 4,934th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce canal?
- US /kəˈnæl/
- British /kəˈnal/
- /kəˈnɛl/
Canal has 2 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-uk-canal.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with canal?
7 words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as canal from its last stressed vowel (/æl/):
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of canal
- canals plural, present, singular, he/she/it
- canalling participle, present
- canalled participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does canal mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
An artificial waterway or artificially improved river used for travel, shipping, or irrigation.
- 2
A tubular channel within the body or within a plant.
- 3
One of the faint, hazy markings resembling straight lines on early telescopic images of the surface of Mars; see Martian canals
verb
- 1
To dig an artificial waterway in or to (a place), especially for drainage
- 2
To travel along a canal by boat
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Canal in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does canal come from?
Borrowed from Middle French canal, from Old French canal, from Latin canālis (“channel, canal, narrow passage”), from canna (“reed, cane”), from Ancient Greek κάννα (kánna, “reed”), from Akkadian 𒄀 (qanû, “reed”). Doublet of channel. See also cane and -al.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).