cañón

canyon

noun kah-NYOHN Less Common

Origin: From Spanish caño (tube, pipe), via the augmentative suffix -ón. English borrowed 'canyon' directly from this word.

Also means

cannon

Usage Note

Cañón has two distinct meanings: a geographical canyon or gorge, and a military cannon. Context usually disambiguates, but both are masculine. The geographical sense is especially common in Latin America (el Gran Cañón del Colorado). In the plural cañones the written accent disappears because the stress becomes penultimate.

Examples

"El cañón del río era impresionante."

Natural Translation

The river canyon was impressive.

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