# canal

> English word · Noun · IPA /kəˈnæl/ · frequency rank #4,924

## Definitions
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

## Etymology
Borrowed from Middle French canal, from Old French canal, from Latin canālis (“channel; canal”), from canālis (“canal”), from canna (“reed, cane”), from Ancient Greek κάννα (kánna, “reed”), from Akkadian 𒄀 (qanû, “reed”), from Sumerian 𒄀𒈾 (gi.na). Doublet of channel.

## Easily confused with
- **coal** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/canal-vs-coal)
- **cant** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/canal-vs-cant)
- **carl** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/canal-vs-carl)
- **cans** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/canal-vs-cans)
- **cane** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/canal-vs-cane)
- **casa** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/canal-vs-casa)
- **Cara** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/canal-vs-cara)
- **cava** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/canal-vs-cava)
- **capa** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/canal-vs-capa)
- **candy** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/canal-vs-candy)
- **canon** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/canal-vs-canon)
- **carol** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/canal-vs-carol)
- **coral** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/canal-vs-coral)
- **canoe** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/canal-vs-canoe)
- **Conan** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/canal-vs-conan)
- **carat** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/canal-vs-carat)
- **canes** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/canal-vs-canes)
- **canny** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/canal-vs-canny)
- **canto** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/canal-vs-canto)
- **Casas** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/canal-vs-casas)

## Common misspellings (7)
`acnal`, `caanl`, `canall`, `canla`, `cannal`, `ccanal`, `cnaal`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/canal