canadian
Word family
- CanadanounA1
Etymology
IroquoianFrenchEnglish
From Canada + the suffix -ian. The name Canada most likely comes from the St. Lawrence Iroquoian word 'kanata,' meaning 'village' or 'settlement.' French explorer Jacques Cartier recorded the term in the 1530s, and it gradually spread to refer to the entire territory. The adjective and noun forms with -ian appeared in English by the mid-1700s.
First known use
1568
1568, in the meaning defined above