A strong, heavy cloth used for sails, tents, bags, and as a surface for painting.
The word comes from Old French 'canevaz' and Latin 'cannabis', which originally meant 'hemp', a plant used to make very strong fibers. Over time, it shifted from the plant material to the cloth made from it.
The word for a painter’s canvas is secretly related to 'cannabis' because both started with the same plant. Before it became an art surface, canvas was literally the tough hemp cloth that powered ships and armies.
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