Word of the Day

: December 30, 2009

canaille

noun kuh-NYE

What It Means

1 : rabble, riffraff

2 : proletarian

canaille in Context

"I am not going to write for [the New York Weekly] -- like all other papers that pay one splendidly, it circulates among stupid people & the canaille." (Mark Twain, letter, June 1, 1867)

Did You Know?

For a creature said to be man’s best friend, the dog doesn’t get a whole lot of respect in the English language. Something that has "gone to the dogs," for example, has gone to ruin, and the Britishism "dog’s breakfast" means a confused mess of something. The word "canaille," which debuted in English in the 17th century, shows that we have no qualms about associating dogs with the lower levels of human society; it derives via French from Italian "canaglia," and ultimately from "canis," the Latin word for "dog." "Canis," of course, is also the source of "canine," meaning "of or relating to dogs or to the family to which they belong."