canaan
/ˈkeɪnən/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: 3.04 in modern English
8
Scrabble Score
6
Letters
2
Syllables
3
Unique Chars
Meaning
name
A historic region of the Middle East, roughly equivalent to Palestine/Israel.
name
A male given name from Hebrew of biblical origin.
name
The name of multiple places in North America named after the historic region, including:
name
The name of multiple places in North America named after the historic region, including:
name
The name of multiple places in North America named after the historic region, including:
Example Sentences
- "Ancient combs were made from wood, bone and ivory, but the latter would have been expensive, imported luxuries. There were no elephants in Canaan at the time."
- "And Canaan begat Sidon his first born, and Heth, and the Jebusite, and the Amorite, and the Girgasite, and the Hivite, and the Arkite, and the Sinite, and the Arvadite, and the Zemarite, and the Hamathite: and afterward were the families of the Canaanites spread abroad."
Etymology
Taken (at least as early as Wycliffe's Bible, 1382-1395, which has Chanaan) from Ecclesiastical Latin Chanaān, from Ancient Greek Χαναάν (Khanaán), expanded from Χνᾶ (Khnâ), from Biblical Hebrew כְּנַעַן (kanáʕan). The first vowel shifted from /aː/ to /eɪ/ in the Great Vowel Shift; at least as early as Milton (1660s), the word could already be pronounced with two syllables, though at least as late as the 1880s it could also be pronounced with three, /ˈkeɪ.nə.æn/.
Origin
Word Breakdown
- Root: Chanaān, Χαναάν, כְּנַעַן
Subject
Wiktionary places this term in People.