Where does “canaille” come from?
Canaille derives from French canaille, from Middle French canaille, from Italian canaglia, from Vulgar Latin canalia, ultimately from Latin canis meaning dog, with the suffix -alis, traced to Ancient Greek κάννα and Proto-Indo-European ḱwṓ.
canaille (English): The lowest class of people; the rabble; the...
Definitions
- The lowest class of people; the rabble; the...
Ancestry of “canaille”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Middle French | canaille | — |
| 2 | Italian | canaglia | scoundrel, rogue; canaille |
| 3 | Vulgar Latin | canalia | — |
| 4 | Latin | Canis | a dog, a hound animal |
| 5 | Ancient Greek | δρόμος | race, running; racetrack; course, path |
| 6 | Ancient Greek | -ός | Forms agentive or patientive adjectives and nouns from the o-grade of a verbal root |
| 7 | Proto-Hellenic | *-os | — |
| 8 | Proto-Indo-European | -ós | Creates agent nouns from verb stems, denoting... |