Where does “canon” come from?

canon (Middle French) comes from Middle French cane, from Old French cane, from Middle Low German kāne, from Old Saxon *kano, from Proto-Italic kanō, from Proto-Germanic kanô, from Proto-Indo-European gan- — a vessel, tub; a vessel, vat, tub.

Ancestry of “canon”, step by step

canon traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.

via Middle French cane

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Middle Frenchcaneduck, female duck; duck, female duck; literally...
2Old Frenchcanetube
3Middle Low Germankāne—
4Old Saxon*kano—
5Proto-Italickanōto sing
6Proto-Germanickanôvessel, vat, tub; boat
7Proto-Indo-Europeangan-a vessel, tub; a vessel, vat, tub

via Italian cannone

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Italiancannonecannon; ace; large tube or pipe
2Italiancannacane; barrel; rod
3LatincannaA reed, cane; Anything made of reed or cane;...
4Ancient Greekκάνναgiant reed; reed mat
5Akkadian𒄀reed; a certain unit of length
6Sumerian𒄀reed; a certain unit of length

Words derived from “canon”

Every word from Proto-Indo-European gan- →