canaille

See also: Canaille

English

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *ḱwṓder.

Latin canēs

Latin canisder.

Vulgar Latin *canālia

Italian canagliabor.

Middle French canaillebor.

English canaille

Borrowed from Middle French canaille.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /kəˈnaɪ/, /kəˈneɪl/, enPR: kə-nī', kə-nāl'
• Rhymes: -aɪ, -eɪl
• Hyphenation: ca‧naille

Noun

canaille (countable and uncountable, plural canailles)

1. (countable, collective) The lowest class of people; the rabble; the vulgar.

   Synonyms: see Thesaurus:commonalty

   • 1553, Ambroise Paré, “The Journey to Hesdin”, in Journeys In Diverse Places:

     I was on a rampart watching the enemy pitch their camp; and, seeing the crowd of idlers round the stream, I asked M. du Pont, commissary of the artillery, to send one cannon-shot among this canaille: he gave me a flat refusal, saying that all this sort of people was not worth the powder would be wasted on them.

   • 1865, John Ruskin, "Of Kings' Treasuries", Unto This Last and Other Writings, Penguin: New York (1997), p. 262

     [...] whatever language he knows, he knows precisely; whatever word he pronounces, he pronounces rightly; above all, he is learned in the peerage of words; knows the words of true descent and ancient blood, at a glance, from words of modern canaille; [...]

   • 1937, P. G. Wodehouse, Lord Emsworth and Others, Woodstock: Overlook, published 2002, pages 99–100:

     The President's Cup, for all its high-sounding name, was one of the lowliest and most humble trophies offered for competition to the members of our club... It had been instituted by a kindly committee for the benefit of the canaille of our little golfing world, those retired military, naval and business men who withdraw to the country and take up golf in their fifties.

2. (uncountable, Canada) Shorts or inferior flour.

References

• “canaille”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.

Anagrams

• Alliance, alliance, ancillae

Dutch

Alternative forms

• kanalje (archaic, superseded)

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *ḱwṓder.

Latin canēs

Latin canisder.

Vulgar Latin *canālia

Italian canagliabor.

Middle French canaillebor.

Dutch canaille

Borrowed from Middle French canaille, from Italian canaglia. From the sixteenth century onwards.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /kaːˈnɑ.jə/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɑjə
• Hyphenation: ca‧nail‧le

Noun

canaille n (plural canailles, no diminutive)

1. (uncountable) plebs, scum, riffraff
2. (countable) rascal, jerk, scumbag

Descendants

• Afrikaans: karnallie
• → Sranan Tongo: kanari
• → West Frisian: kanalje

French

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *ḱwṓder.

Latin canēs

Latin canisder.

Vulgar Latin *canālia

Italian canagliabor.

Middle French canaille

French canaille

Inherited from Middle French canaille, from Italian canaglia.

Pronunciation

• (France) IPA^(key): /ka.naj/ ~ /ka.nɑj/

  • "une canaille" (Paris):

    (file)

  • Audio (France (Vosges)):

    (file)

• (Louisiana) IPA^(key): /kɑ̃.naj/
• Rhymes: -aj, -ɑj
• Homophone: canailles

Noun

GUILLAUME Ah canaille ! Tu m'avais dit qu'il n'y avait plus de soldats en France !!!!! — WILHELM You scoundrel! You told me there weren't any more soldiers in France!!!!!

canaille f (plural canailles)

1. (archaic, derogatory, collectively) rabble, riffraff
2. (also Louisiana) rascal, blackguard, scoundrel, scum
3. (Louisiana) clever person
4. (Louisiana) trickster, prankster

Usage notes

• Masculine or feminine by sense in Louisiana.

Derived terms

• canailler
• canaillerie
• canaillocratie
• canaillou
• encanaillement
• encanailler

Descendants

• Haitian Creole: kannay
• Louisiana Creole: kanay
• → Danish: kanalje
• → Dutch: canaille, kanalje (archaic, superseded)
  • Afrikaans: karnallie
  • → Sranan Tongo: kanari
  • → West Frisian: kanalje
• → English: canaille
• → Esperanto: kanajlo
• → German: Canaille, Kanaille
• → Norwegian Nynorsk: kanalje
  • Russenorsk: kanalja, kanali
• → Swedish: kanalje

Adjective

canaille (plural canailles)

Des mardi gras canailles — Some unruly Mardi Gras runners

1. raffish
2. scoundrelly
3. (Louisiana) cunning, tricky
4. (Louisiana) mischievous
5. (Louisiana) unruly

Further reading

• “canaille”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012
• Dictionary of Louisiana French: As Spoken in Cajun, Creole, and American Indian Communities (2009; →ISBN; →ISBN)

Anagrams

• aclinale, alcaline, alliance, Alliance, encailla