canopy

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English[edit]

Platform canopies at Clapham Junction station, London

Etymology[edit]

From Middle English canope, from Latin cōnōpēum (“curtain”) (ultimately from Ancient Greek κωνωπεῖον (kōnōpeîon)), through Medieval Latin canopeum, or possibly Old French conope, conopé (compare modern French canapé). Doublet of canapé and conopeum.

Pronunciation[edit]

  • (UK) IPA(key): /ˈkæ.nə.pi/
  • Audio (US)
    		(file)

Noun[edit]

canopy (plural canopies)

Canopy walkway in Rwanda (3).
  1. A high cover providing shelter, such as a cloth supported above an object, particularly over a bed.
    • 1847, John Dryden, The Works of John Dryden in Verse and Prose, volume 1, Harper, The Beginning of the Second Book of Lucretius:
      golden canopies and beds of state
    • 2019 October, “Consultation on University Station designs”, in Modern Railways, page 17:
      Platforms would be widened and covered by canopies with heated waiting areas for passengers.
  2. Any overhanging or projecting roof structure, typically over entrances or doors.
  3. The zone of the highest foliage and branches of a forest.
  4. In an airplane, the transparent cockpit cover.
  5. In a parachute, the cloth that fills with air and thus limits the falling speed.

Descendants[edit]

  • → French: canopée (calque)
  • → Spanish: canopy

Translations[edit]

Verb[edit]

canopy (third-person singular simple present canopies, present participle canopying, simple past and past participle canopied)

  1. (transitive) To cover with or as if with a canopy.
    • c. 1599, William Shakespeare, Twelfth Night, Act I, Scene 1,[1]
      Away before me to sweet beds of flowers:
      Love-thoughts lie rich when canopied with bowers.
    • 1634, John Milton, Comus, lines 543-5,[2]
      I sat me down to watch upon a bank
      With ivy canopied, and interwove
      With flaunting honeysuckle […]
    • 1818, Mary Shelley, Franklenstein, Chapter 11,[3]
      I began also to observe, with greater accuracy, the forms that surrounded me, and to perceive the boundaries of the radiant roof of light which canopied me.
    • 1850, The Madras Journal of Literature and Science, Vol. XVI, No. 38, Vepery: J.P. Bantleman, p. 366,[4]
      The walls of the vestibule and passage passing round the sanctuary, are covered with compartments holding high reliefs of Buddha seated on a lotus, the stem of which is grasped by two figures wearing wigs and tiaras, canopied by snakes; […]
  2. (intransitive) To go through the canopy of a forest on a zipline.
    • 2013, Tara Morris, “Canopying In Rio Claro,” colombiareports.com, 11 March, 2013,[5]
      If you’re looking for a little adventure in Colombia, look no further than canopying through Rio Claro’s lush, secluded jungle, located just five hours bus ride from either Medellin or Bogota.

See also[edit]

Spanish[edit]

Noun[edit]

canopy m (uncountable)

  1. (Caribbean) zipline (activity)
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