Word Origin Atlas

Exact historical dictionary sense

Channel in Webster's 1913 dictionary

The 1913 record labels channel as noun. Its source-bounded etymology and selected historical definition appear below.

WEBSTER 1913noun
Channel

[OE. chanel, canel, OF. chanel, F. chenel, fr. L. canalis. See Canal.]

Cross-verified historical sense
The source text may be outdated. The page preserves that historical boundary.
Cross-verified 1913 record
Headwordchannel
Part of speechnoun
Historical etymology[OE. chanel, canel, OF. chanel, F. chenel, fr. L. canalis. See Canal.]
Selected historical definitionThe hollow bed where a stream of water runs or may run.
Signed record IDwebster1913-channel-noun-f217c9b404bb
Source locatorCIDE.C, paragraph 5359; Gutenberg eBook 661
Edition-scoped answerNot earliest-attestation proofNot modern consensus
Independent historical textProject Gutenberg section 661Signed structural record sourceGNU GCIDE 0.54 archive
Quick answer

In Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913), "channel" is labeled noun. Its etymology is recorded as: "[OE. chanel, canel, OF. chanel, F. chenel, fr. L. canalis. See Canal.]" The selected historical definition says: "The hollow bed where a stream of water runs or may run."

Project Gutenberg Webster 1913 plus signed GNU GCIDE 0.54 Exact cross-verified historical record reviewed 2026-10-04

What this answer proves

One named sense in one historical dictionary edition.

The answer reports the selected headword, part of speech, etymology, definition, and source locator as transcribed in the cross-verified 1913 record.

Evidence boundaryIt does not establish the earliest attestation or a complete borrowing chain.It does not claim current scholarly consensus or a modern dictionary definition.Historical dictionary text may be obsolete, incomplete, inaccurate, or offensive by modern standards.

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