canapé

See also: canape, Canapé, and canapè

English

Etymology

Borrowed from French canapé. Doublet of canopy and conopeum.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈkænəpeɪ/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

Noun

canapé (plural canapés)

1. An hors d’oeuvre, a bite-sized open-faced sandwich made of thin bread or toast topped with savory garnish.
2. A piece of furniture similar to a couch or settee, an elegant sofa.
   • 1908, Upton Sinclair, The Metropolis, New York: Moffat, Yard & Company, page 29:

     Oliver was sitting on the edge of the canapé, swinging one leg over the other; and he stopped abruptly and stared, and then sank back, laughing softly to himself.

Translations

a bite-sized slice open-faced sandwich

• Catalan: canapè (ca) m
• Czech: jednohubka (cs) f
• Danish: kanapé (da) c
• Finnish: cocktailleipä, kanapee (fi)
• French: canapé (fr) m
• German: Kanapee (de) n, Schnittchen (de) n
• Greek: καναπεδάκι (el) n (kanapedáki)
• Hungarian: zsúrszendvics, miniszendvics, koktélszendvics, (dated, rare) kanapé (hu)
• Indonesian: canapé (id)
• Italian: canapè m, crostino (it) m, tartina (it) f
• Japanese: カナッペ (kanappe)
• Korean: 카나페 (kanape)
• Kurdish:

  Northern Kurdish: kanepe (ku) f

• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: kanapé (no) m

• Polish: kanapka (pl) f
• Portuguese: canapé (pt) m
• Russian: канапе́ (ru) n (kanapɛ́)
• Spanish: canapé (es) m
• Swedish: kanapé (sv) c, snittar (sv) c pl
• Turkish: kanepe (tr)

elegant sofa

• Albanian: kanape (sq) f
• Belarusian: кана́па f (kanápa)
• Bulgarian: канапе́ (bg) n (kanapé)
• Catalan: canapè (ca) m
• Danish: kanapé (da) c
• Dutch: canapé (nl) m
• Esperanto: kanapo
• Estonian: kanapee
• Finnish: kanapee (fi)
• French: canapé (fr) m
• German: Kanapee (de) n
• Greek: καναπές (el) m (kanapés)
• Hungarian: kanapé (hu)
• Ido: kanapeo (io)
• Italian: canapè m
• Kurdish:

  Northern Kurdish: qenepe (ku) f

• Macedonian: канабе n (kanabe)
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: kanapé (no) m

• Polish: kanapa (pl) f
• Portuguese: canapé (pt) m
• Romanian: canapea (ro) f
• Russian: канапе́ (ru) n (kanapɛ́)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: кана̀пе̄ m

  Latin: kanàpē (sh) m

• Slovene: kanape m
• Spanish: canapé (es) m
• Turkish: kanepe (tr)
• Ukrainian: кана́па (uk) f (kanápa)

Anagrams

• Canepa

Catalan

Noun

canapé m (plural canapés)

1. (Valencia) alternative spelling of canapè

Danish

Noun

canapé (unofficial)

1. alternative form of kanapé

Dutch

Etymology

Borrowed from French canapé. Attested since the 18th century.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˌkaː.naːˈpeː/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Hyphenation: ca‧na‧pé
• Rhymes: -eː

Noun

canapé m (plural canapés, diminutive canapeetje n)

1. canapé (food)
2. canapé (furniture)
   • 1966 [1951], Annie M.G. Schmidt, “Tante Trui en Tante Toosje [Aunt Trui and Aunt Toosje]”, in De spin Sebastiaan [Sebastian the Spider]‎^[1], Amsterdam: De Arbeiderspers, page 57:

     't Water steeg en bleef maar stijgen / en de hele kanapee / ging toen langzaam aan het drijven / en de tantes dreven mee.

     The water rose and kept rising / and the entire canapé / slowly went afloat / and the aunts floated along with it.

French

Alternative forms

• canap’

Etymology

From Old French conopé, conope (later altered in form and meaning based on Medieval Latin canāpēum, alteration of canōpēum (“mosquito net”)), itself from Latin cōnōpēum (“seat with a canopy”), from Ancient Greek κωνωπεῖον (kōnōpeîon), from κώνωψ (kṓnōps, “mosquito”). Cognate with English canopy.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ka.na.pe/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Audio (France (Toulouse)):

  (file)

• Audio (France (Vosges)):

  (file)

• Audio (France):

  (file)

• Audio (France (Vosges)):

  (file)

• Audio (France (Lyon)):

  (file)

Noun

canapé m (plural canapés)

1. sofa
2. piece of bread covered with some savory (finger) food
3. nibble (small bits of food, e.g. at a party)

Derived terms

• promotion canapé

Related terms

• canopée

Descendants

• → Albanian: kanape
• → Alemannic German: Kanepe
• → Belarusian: кана́па (kanápa)
• → Catalan: canapè
• → Czech: kanape
• → Danish: kanapé, kanape, canapé, canape
• → English: canapé
• → Egyptian Arabic: كنبة (kánaba)
• → Finnish: kanapee
• → German: Kanapee, Canapé
  • → Hungarian: kanapé
• → Greek: καναπές (kanapés)
• → Gulf Arabic: قنفة (qanafa)
• Haitian Creole: kanape
• → Hijazi Arabic: كنبة (kanaba)
• → Italian: canapè
• → Iraqi Arabic: قنفة (qanafa)
• → Japanese: カナッペ (kanappe)
• → Korean: 카나페 (kanape)
• → Northern Kurdish: qenepe
• → Lithuanian: kanapa
• → Macedonian: канабе (kanabe)
• → Norwegian Bokmål: kanapé, kanape
• → Norwegian Nynorsk: kanape
• → Ottoman Turkish: قاناپه (kanape)
• → Persian: کاناپه (kânâpe)
• → Polish: kanapa
• → Portuguese: canapé
• → Romanian: canapea
• → Russian: канапе́ (kanapé)
• → Spanish: canapé
  • → Tagalog: kanape
• → Swedish: kanapé
• → Turkish: kanepe
• → Ukrainian: кана́па (kanápa)
• → Vilamovian: kanapē

References

• “canapé” in Webster’s Seventh New Collegiate Dictionary: Based on Webster’s Third New International Dictionary, 7th edition, Springfield, Mass.: G[eorge] & C[harles] Merriam, 1963 (1967 printing), →OCLC.
• Nouveau Petit Larousse illustré. Dictionnaire encyclopédique. Paris, Librairie Larousse, 1952, 146th edition
• H. H. Mallinckrodt, Latijn Nederlands woordenboek (Aula n° 24), Utrecht-Antwerpen, Spectrum, 1959 [Latin - Dutch dictionary in Dutch]

Further reading

• “canapé”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012

Anagrams

• pacane

Indonesian

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from French canapé.

Noun

canapé (plural canapé-canapé)

1. (cooking) canapé (a bite-sized slice open-faced sandwich)

Further reading

• “canapé”, in Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia [Great Dictionary of the Indonesian Language] (in Indonesian), Jakarta: Agency for Language Development and Cultivation – Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology of the Republic of Indonesia, 2016

Portuguese

Etymology

Borrowed from French canapé.

Pronunciation

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /ka.naˈpɛ/

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /kɐ.nɐˈpɛ/

• Rhymes: -ɛ
• Hyphenation: ca‧na‧pé

Noun

canapé m (plural canapés)

1. canapé (a bite-size slice open-faced sandwich)
2. canapé (a type of elegant sofa)

Further reading

• “canapé”, in Dicionário Aulete Digital (in Portuguese), Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon Editora Digital, 2008–2026

Spanish

Etymology

Borrowed from French canapé.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /kanaˈpe/ [ka.naˈpe]
• Rhymes: -e
• Syllabification: ca‧na‧pé

Noun

canapé m (plural canapés)

1. canapé (food)
2. canapé (furniture)
3. snack food

Descendants

• → Tagalog: kanape

Further reading

• “canapé”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8.1, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 15 December 2025