The Latin word for dog, used in scientific names and zoological contexts to refer to the dog family (Canidae).
From Latin canis meaning 'dog,' a root word that appears in many European languages. The word likely comes from Proto-Indo-European *kwon-, which also gave us English 'hound' and Greek 'kyon.'
The genus Canis includes not just dogs but also wolves, coyotes, and jackals—showing how one Latin word captures an entire family of animals that humans have shared the planet with for millennia.
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