Other forms: canaries
A canary is a little yellow cage bird kept for its singing. A singing canary, a canary in a cage, yellow as a canary.
Only the males sing properly, which is why they were the ones sold. They were carried down coal mines until 1986 because they collapse from carbon monoxide long before a human notices, and a canary in the coal mine now means any early warning. The bird is named after the islands, and the islands after dogs.
1nouncanaryA small yellow cage bird kept for its song.
“The canary sang cheerfully in its cage by the kitchen window.”
canary is a bird.
Named after the Canary Islands, which the Romans called Insula Canaria, dog island, from canis, a dog.
Latin
Canariae insulae — Canary Islands
Spanish
canario
French
canarie
English, today
canary
Built from
From French canarie, from Spanish canario, from the Latin Canariae insulae (“Canary Islands”) (Islas Canarias); from the largest island Insula Canaria (“Dog Island" or "Canine Island”), named for its dogs, from canārius (“canine”), from canis (“dog”).
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA