Canaan
English · Français · Thesaurus
AI In plain words
Writing a short explanation…
Written by a house AI from the entry below, in your language. The entry itself is the source.
Canaan
- /ˈkeɪnən/
- /ˈkeɪneɪən/
- /ˈkeɪniən/
Rhymes with -eɪniən
Where it comes from
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/.
proper noun Chanaan · Caanan
- A historic region of the Middle East, roughly equivalent to Palestine/Israel. 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.
- A grandson of Noah. 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.
- A male given name from Hebrew of biblical origin.
- A town in Litchfield County, Connecticut, United States.
- A town in Grafton County, New Hampshire, United States.
- A number of townships in the United States, listed under Canaan Township.
Thesaurus
Closest in meaning: palestine, holy land, kanaan, kanan, promised land, israel, eretz yisrael, levant, phoenicia, coele-syria, judah, samaria, galilee, chanaan, canaanite, canaanism
Translations
Talk about this word "Canaan." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/canaan. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026. Canaan. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/canaan "Canaan." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/canaan.Cite this
@misc{canaan_2026,
title = {Canaan},
howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
year = {2026},
url = {https://micwyn.com/word/canaan},
urldate = {2026-11-06}
}
