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Origin and history of channel

channel(n.)

early 14c., "bed of a stream of water," from Old French chanel "bed of a waterway; tube, pipe, gutter," from Latin canalis "groove, channel, waterpipe" (see canal). The English word was given a broader, figurative sense by 1530s: "that by which something passes or is transmitted" (in reference to information, commerce, etc.); the meaning "circuit for telegraph communication" (1848) probably led to that of "band of frequency for radio or TV signals" (1928). Also "part of a sea making a passageway between land masses, a large strait" (1550s).

channel(v.)

1590s, "wear or cut channels in," from channel (n.). The meaning "convey in a channel" is from 1640s. Related: Channeled; channeling.

also from 1590s

Entries linking to channel

canal(n.)

early 15c., in anatomy, "tubular passage in the body through which fluids or solids pass;" mid-15c., "a pipe for liquid;" from French canal, chanel "water channel, tube, pipe, gutter" (12c.), from Latin canalis "water pipe, groove, channel," noun use of adjective from canna "reed" (see cane (n.)). The sense was transferred by 1670s to "artificial waterway for irrigation or navigation."

Chunnel(n.)

1928, a blend of (English) Channel + tunnel (n.).

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    Trends of channel

    adapted from books.google.com/ngrams/ with a 7-year moving average; ngrams are probably unreliable.

    More to explore

    groove
    c. 1400, "cave; mine; pit dug in the earth" (late 13c. in place names), from a Scandinavian source such as Old Norse grod "pit," or from Middle Dutch groeve "furrow, ditch" (Modern Dutch groef), both from Proto-Germanic *grobo (source also of Old Norse grof "brook, river bed," Ol
    impart
    early 15c., "to give a part of (one's possessions);" late 15c., "to share, take part in," from Old French empartir, impartir "assign, allot, allocate, share out" (14c.), from Late Latin impartire (also impertire) "to share in, divide with another; communicate," from assimilated f
    conduct
    early 15c., "to guide, accompany and show the way," from Latin conductus, past participle of conducere "to lead or bring together; contribute, serve," from assimilated form of com "with, together" (see con-) + ducere "to lead" (from PIE root *deuk- "to lead"). Sense of "to lead,
    English
    English Channel is from 1825; the older name was British Channel (by 1730) or simply Channel (Shakespeare)....Trevisa's Middle English translation of the encyclopedia De Proprietatibus Rerum (c. 1398) has frensshe see for "English Channel...The Channel Islands are the French Îles Anglo-Normandes....
    conduit
    "escort, protection; pipe, channel," from Latin conductus "a leading, a pipe," noun use of past participle of conducere "...Conduit in the sense "medium or means of conveying" is from mid-14c.; as "pipe or tube or other channel for conveyance of...
    gut
    Old English guttas (plural) "bowels, entrails," literally "a channel," related to geotan "to pour," from Proto-Germanic *...Related to Middle Dutch gote, Dutch goot, German Gosse "gutter, drain," Middle English gote "channel, stream."...
    stream
    Middle English strem "course of water, current of a stream, body of water flowing in a natural channel," from Old English...Also sometimes in Old English and Middle English "the ocean, the sea," or a navigable channel of it; the meaning "steady...
    bring
    Old English bringan "to bear, convey, take along in coming; bring forth, produce, present, offer" (past tense brohte, past participle broht), from Proto-Germanic *brangjanan (source also of Old Frisian branga "attest, declare, assure," Middle Dutch brenghen, Old High German bring
    quirk
    1560s, "a quibble, an artful evasion," a word of unknown origin, perhaps connected to German quer (see queer (adj.)) via the notion of twisting and slanting; but its earliest appearance in western England dialect seems to argue against this as its source. Perhaps originally a tec
    lens
    1690s, "glass to regulate light rays," from Latin lens (genitive lentis) "a lentil," on analogy of the double-convex shape. See lentil. Anatomical use, of the eye part, from 1719. Lens-cap is from 1857. In the vernacular of the photographer, anyone crowding to the front of a gro

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