canvass

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English

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WOTD – 25 March 2022

Pronunciation

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Etymology 1

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Theverbis derived fromcanvas(“type of coarse cloth woven from hemp”).The connection between “to toss (someone) in a (canvas) sheet; (by extension) to batter, beat, or thrash (someone or something); etc.” and “to seek the support of voters or a constituency in a forthcoming election or poll” is not entirely clear.[1]

Thenounis derived from the verb.[2]It has been suggested that noun sense 4.2 ( “rejection (at an election, of a suit, etc.)” ) may refer to the canvas bag used by journeymen mechanics which they used to pack up their tools after they had completed their jobs,[3]in which case it is not derived from the verb but directly fromcanvas(noun).

Verb

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canvass(third-person singular simple presentcanvasses,present participlecanvassing,simple past and past participlecanvassed)

  1. (transitive,figuratively)
    1. Tothoroughlyexamineorinvestigate(something)physicallyor bydiscussion;todebate,togatheropinion,toscrutinize.
      • 1567,Ovid,“The First Booke”, inArthur Golding,transl.,The XV. Bookes of P. Ouidius Naso, Entytuled Metamorphosis,[…],London:[…]Willyam Seres[…],→OCLC,folio 7, recto:
        And with the aunſwere here vpon eftſoones in hand they go, / The doubtfull wordes wherof they ſcan andcanuasto and fro.
      • 1612(date written), Thomas Ouerbury [i.e.Thomas Overbury] orJohn Webster,“Characters. Or, Witty Descriptions of the Properties of Sundry Persons. An Affectate Traueller.”,inSir Thomas Ouerbury His Wife.[…],14th edition, London:[…]Robert Allot,[…],published1630,→OCLC:
        Vpon feſtiuall dayes he goes to Court, & ſalutes without reſaluting: at night in an Ordinary hecanuaſſeththe buſineſſe in hand, and ſeems as conuerſant with all intents and plots as if he begot them.
      • 1631,Saint Augustine,“His Striuing against Sinne”, inWilliam Watts,transl.,Saint Augustines Confessions Translated:[…],London:[…]Iohn Norton, for Iohn Partridge[…],→OCLC,book 10, paragraph 1,pages709–710:
        [T]aking ſome things vpon thereportof my Sences, & vvorking out other things that vvere of a mixt nature, by way ofDialoguewith mine ovvne ſelfe; yea and taking particularnoticeandtaleof theReportersthemſelues; & anon throughlycanuaſſingouer thoſe other things layd vp in the large treaſury of mymemory,ſtoring vp ſome of them there againe, and for my vſe dravving out the reſt.
      • 1676,John Wilson, “Sermon II.Psalm73. 23, 24, 25, 26.”,inThe Vanity of Mans Present State Proved and Applyed, in a Sermon on Psalm 39. 5.[…],London:[…]Samuel Sprint,[…],→OCLC,page78:
        Look into the vvord of God, and you ſhall find that it hath very much exerciſed the thoughts of the righteous, andSenecathe Philoſopher,canvaſſeththis grand Caſe, how it ſhould come to paſs that the vvicked proſpered.
      • 1695,John Woodward,“Part V. Of the Alterations which the Terraqueous Globe hath Undergone since the Time of the Deluge.”, inAn Essay toward a Natural History of the Earth: And Terrestrial Bodies, Especially Minerals:[…],London:[…]Ric[hard]Wilkin[…],→OCLC,page228:
        I have made careful ſearch on all hands, andcanvaſs’dthe Matter with all poſſible Diligence,[…]
      • 1753(indicated as1754),[Samuel Richardson], “Letter L. Lady Grandison. In Continuation.”, inThe History of Sir Charles Grandison.[…],2nd edition, volume VI, London:[…]S[amuel]Richardson;[a]nd sold by C. Hitch and L. Hawes,[…],→OCLC,page249:
        They think marriage with a worthy man of your own faith, would tend to eſtabliſh it.Youthink aſſuming the veil the only expedient. This ſubject has been muchcanvaſſed.
      • 1831,L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], chapter IX, inRomance and Reality.[…],volume III, London:Henry ColburnandRichard Bentley,[…],→OCLC,page185:
        Nay, Mr. Lorraine, you ought tocanvassme; do you not know that all the gracious countenance Lady Mandeville can extend is mine by pledge and promise? I do not know whether I will allow her to grant the light of her favour to any rival next season—more especially to one so dangerous to the undivided effect I mean to produce, as this beautiful and interesting unknown.
      • 1859,William Hamilton,“Lecture XI. Outine of Distribution of Mental Phænomena: Consciousness,—Its Special Conditions.”, inH[enry] L[ongueville] ManselandJohn Veitch,editors,Lectures on Metaphysics and Logic[…],volume I, Edinburgh, London:William Blackwood and Sons,→OCLC,page202:
        They [some philosophers] hold that we have an immediate knowledge of external objects, but they hold that these objects are beyond the sphere of consciousness. This is an opinion we are, likewise, soon tocanvass.
      • 1920January,Keith Preston,“Translations and Translators”, inFrank J[ustus] Miller,Arthur T. Walker, editors,The Classical Journal,volume XV, number 4, Chicago, Ill.:Classical Association of the Middle West and Southwith the co-operation of theClassical Association of New Englandand the Classical Association of the Pacific States;University of Chicago Press,→ISSN,→OCLC,page242:
        How old this question was and how thoughtfully it had beencanvassedwe were not aware until we turned up a discussion dating from the early eighteenth century which may prove as fresh and interesting to some of our readers as it did to us.
    2. (by extension,politics,obsoleteexceptUS,Philippines)To scrutinize (theballotin anelectionor thevotescast) andrejectirregularvotes; also, tochallengeordispute(an electionresult).
      • 1724,[Gilbert] Burnet,“Book III. Of the Rest ofKing Charles II’s Reign, from the Year 1673 to the Year 1685, in which He Died.”, in[Gilbert Burnet Jr.],editor,Bishop Burnet’s History of His Own Time.[…],volume I, London:[…]Thomas Ward[…],→OCLC,page530:
        The poll was cloſed when the Court thought they had the majority: But upon caſting it up it appeared they had loſt it: So they fell tocanvaſsit: And they made ſuch exceptions to thoſe of the other ſide, that they diſcounted as many voices as gave them the majority.
    3. Toseekorsolicitdonations,information,opinions,support,etc. from (peopleor aplace)
      The police arecanvassingthe neighbourhood for information about the missing child.
      • 1768,Horace Walpole, “The Murder of His BrotherClarence”,inHistoric Doubts on the Life and Reign of King Richard the Third,London:[…]J[ames]Dodsley[…],→OCLC,page19:
        He who ſcorned to ſave his life by bending the will of the ſon, was not likely tocanvaſsthe favour of the father, by proſtituting his pen to the humour of the court.
      • 1774,[Oliver] Goldsmith,“A Short Survey of the State of Greece Previous to the Persian War”, inThe Grecian History, from the Earliest State to the Death of Alexander the Great,volume I, London:[…]J[ohn]and F[rancis]Rivington,[…],→OCLC,pages74–75:
        The quality of citizen of Athens was ſometimes granted in honour and gratitude to thoſe who merited well of the ſtate, as toHippocratesthe phyſician; and even kings ſometimescanvaſſedthat title for themſelves and their children.
      • 2023January 11, Howard Johnston, “Regional News: North West”, inRAIL,number974,page18:
        Buxton: A survey of 3,000 users of the Monsal Trail has revealed 98% support for the rebuilding of the railway to Matlock. The Manchester & East Midlands Rail Action partnership has been leafleting homes tocanvasssupport for its reopening campaign.
    4. (specifically,politics)To seek thesupportof (votersor aconstituency) in aforthcomingelection orpollthroughpersonalsolicitationorpublicaddresses.
      The electoral candidatecanvassedthe district for votes.
  2. (transitive,obsolete)
    1. Totoss(someone) in a (canvas)sheetforfunor as apunishment;toblanket.[from 1508]
    2. (by extension)Tobatter,beat,orthrash(someone or something).
    3. (by extension)Toassailorattack(someone or something).
    4. (by extension)Toseverelycriticize(aperson,awrittenwork,etc.).
  3. (intransitive)
    1. To debate, todiscuss.
      • 1834,[Frederick Marryat], chapter III, inJacob Faithful[…],volume III, London: Saunders and Otley,[…],→OCLC,page49:
        I pulled down to Mr. Turnbull's, and told him my good and bad fortune. It being late, he ordered me some dinner in his study, and we sat therecanvassingover the affair.
    2. To seek or solicit donations, information, opinions, support, etc.; toconductasurvey.
      • 1581,Steven Guazzo [i.e.,Stefano Guazzo], “Guazzo Anniball”, inGeorge Pettie,transl., edited byCharles Whibley,The Civile Conversation of M. Steeven Guazzo[…](The Tudor Translations, Second Series; VII), volume I, London:Constable and Co.;New York, N.Y.:Alfred A[braham] Knopf,published1925,→OCLC,1st book,pages25–26:
        [T]o saile surely in the deepe sea of divine Philosophie, wee ought to take wary heede to flie, more thenScyllaandCharibdis,the Conversation of men, as they did   not only getting themselves out of the prease of people, but setting light by, and refusing the government of common weales, and those chief honours and offices which ambitious men goe all day long with great labour and arecanuassingand crauing for
      • 1625,Francis [Bacon], “[Apophthegm 65]”,inApophthegmes New and Old.[…],London:[…]Hanna Barret, and Richard Whittaker,[…],→OCLC,pages83–84:
        Queene Elizabeth,being to reſolue vpon a great Officer, and being by ſome, thatcanuaſſedfor others, put in ſome doubt of that perſon, vvhõ ſhe meant to aduance,[…]
      • a.1661(date written),H[enry] Hammond,“Sect IV. Of the Holy Catholick Church.”, inA Practical Catechism[…],7th edition, London:[…]J. F. forR[ichard]Royston,[…],published1662,→OCLC,book V,page354:
        [T]he nature of man, created after the Image of God, I mean, his Reaſonable nature, hath ſuch an agreement and liking to all that is ſubſtantially and really good, (ſuch are all the Commands of the Natural and Chriſtian Law) that it ſtillcanvaſethon that ſide, and ſolicites the will to embrace the good, and prefer it before the pleaſurable evil;[…]
      • 2001,Joyce Carol Oates,“Prologue: Fourth of July”, inMiddle Age: A Romance,New York, N.Y.:Ecco,→ISBN,section 7,page 5:
        ADAM BERENDT, whocanvassedthrough Rockland County on behalf of education, environmental, and gun control bond issues.
    3. (specifically,politics)To seek the support of voters or a constituency in a forthcoming election or poll; tocampaign.
      • 1691,[Anthony Wood], “WILLIAM LENTHALL”,inAthenæ Oxonienses. An Exact History of All the Writers and Bishops who have had Their Education in the Most Ancient and Famous University of Oxford from the Fifteenth Year of KingHenry the Seventh,Dom. 1500, to the End of the Year 1690.[…],volume II (Completing the Whole Work), London:[…]Tho[mas]Bennet[…],→OCLC,column204:
        [H]e endeavoured by his Agents to be choſe a Burgeſs for the Univerſity ofOxon,to ſerve in that Parliament vvhich began atVVeſtm[inster] 25Apr.1660, as at one or tvvo places beſides, vvhere he hadcanvas'dfor votes;[…]
      • 1771,[Tobias Smollett], “To Dr. Lewis”, inThe Expedition of Humphry Clinker[…],volume I, London:[…]W. Johnston,[…];and B. Collins,[…],→OCLC,page160:
        Indeed, I know nothing ſo abject as the behaviour of a mancanvaſſingfor a ſeat in parliament—[…]
      • 1845,B[enjamin] Disraeli,chapter VIII, inSybil; or The Two Nations.[…],volume III, London:Henry Colburn,[…],→OCLC,book VI,pages233–234:
        "Don't you remember, too, at the last election here," said Caroline, "how the fine ladies from the Castle came andcanvassedfor Colonel Rosemary? "
Alternative forms
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Derived terms
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Translations
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to debate, discuss—seedebate,‎discuss
to seek the support of voters or a constituency in a forthcoming election or poll—seecampaign
The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions atWiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Noun

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canvass(countableanduncountable,pluralcanvasses)

  1. (countable)Aseekingorsolicitationofdonations,information,opinions,support,etc.
    • 1624,Democritus Junior [pseudonym;Robert Burton], “Concupiscible Appetite, as Desires, Ambitions, Causes”, inThe Anatomy of Melancholy:[…],2nd edition, Oxford, Oxfordshire:[…]John Lichfield and James Short, for Henry Cripps,→OCLC,partition 1, section 2, member 3, subsection 11,page100:
      It is a wonder to ſee how ſlauiſhly theſe kinde of [ambitious] men will ſubiect themſelues, vvhen they are about acanvas,to euery inferiour perſon, vvhat paines they vvill take, runne, ride, caſt, plot & countermine, proteſt & ſvveare, vow, promiſe, vvhat labours vndergoe, earely vp, dovvne late;[…]
    • 1790November,Edmund Burke,Reflections on the Revolution in France, and on the Proceedings in Certain Societies in London Relative to that Event.[…],London:[…]J[ames]Dodsley,[…],→OCLC,page219:
      I know well enough that the biſhoprics and cures, under kingly and ſeignoral patronage, as now they are in England, and as they have been lately in France, are ſometimes acquired by unworthy methods; but the other mode of eccleſiaſticalcanvasſubjects them infinitely more ſurely and more generally to all the evil arts of low ambition, which, operating on and through greater numbers, will produce miſchief in proportion.
    • 1838,William H[ickling] Prescott,“Internal Administration of Castile. 1475–1482.”, inHistory of the Reign ofFerdinandandIsabella,the Catholic.[…],volume I, Boston, Mass.: American Stationers’ Company; John B. Russell,→OCLC,1st part (1406–1492),page218:
      By this harmonious distribution, the honors, which had before been held up to the highest bidder, or made the subject of a furiouscanvass,became the incentive and sure recompense of desert.
  2. (countable,specifically,politics)A seeking or solicitation, ordetermination,ofsupportorfavourablevotesin aforthcomingelectionorpoll.
    • [1625,Francis [Bacon],“Of Cunning. XXII.”, inThe Essayes[…],3rd edition, London:[…]Iohn Haviland for Hanna Barret,→OCLC,page127:
      And certainly, there is great difference, betvveen aCunningMan, and aWiſeMan; Not onely in Point of Honeſty, but in point of Ability. There be that can packe the Cards, and yet cannot play vvell; So there are ſome, that are good inCanuaſſes,and Factions, that are othervviſe VVeake Men.
      The meaning is unclear.]
    • 1691,[Anthony Wood], “An. Dom. 1624. 22. Jac. I.”,inAthenæ Oxonienses. An Exact History of All the Writers and Bishops who have had Their Education in the Most Ancient and Famous University of Oxford from the Fifteenth Year of KingHenry the Seventh,Dom. 1500, to the End of the Year 1690.[…],volume I (Extending to the 16th Year of KingCharles I.Dom. 1640), London:[…]Tho[mas]Bennet[…],→OCLC,column846:
      In the election of which Proctors, was the greateſtcanvas,(as 'twas thought) in the memory of Man.[…]For the taking of the Suffrages,[…]the ſcrutiny continued till after 9 of the clock at night. In the year 1616 was a greaterCanvasthan this, there being then 1078 voices given on all Sides.
    • 1844,B[enjamin] Disraeli,chapter IV, inConingsby; or, The New Generation.[…],volume II, London:Henry Colburn,[…],→OCLC,book V,page255:
      The results of the twocanvasseswere such as had been anticipated from the previous reports of the respective agents and supporters. In these days the personalcanvassof a candidate is a mere form. The whole country that is to be invaded has been surveyed and mapped out before entry; every position reconnoitered; the chain of communications complete. In the present case as is not unusual, both candidates were really supported by numerous and reputable adherents; and both had very good grounds for believing that they would be ultimately successful.
  3. (countable,US,politics)Ascrutinyof thevotescastin an election torejectirregularvotes; also, atally,audit,andcertificationof votes.
    • 2016November 16,John Nichols,“Hillary Clinton’s Popular-vote Victory is Unprecedented—and Still Growing”, inThe Nation‎[1],New York, N.Y.: The Nation Company,→ISSN,→OCLC,archived fromthe originalon19 December 2016:
      Elections officials [in California] have approximately one month (28 days for presidential electors and 30 days for all other contests) to complete their extensive tallying, auditing, and certification work (known as the ‘officialcanvass’). Most notably, voting by mail has increased significantly in recent years and many vote-by-mail ballots arrive on, or up to three days after, Election Day (vote-by-mail ballots postmarked on or before Election Day and received by the county elections official no later than three days after the election are included in thecanvass).
  4. (obsolete)
    1. (countable)Athoroughdiscussionorinvestigation.(Possibly; the meaning is unclear.)
      • 1611,Joseph Hall,“Epistle IIII. To My Lady Honoria Hay. Discoursing of the Necessity of Baptisme; and the Estate of Those which Necessarily Want It.”, inEpistles[…],volume III, London:[…][William StansbyandWilliam Jaggard] for Samuell Macham,[…],→OCLC,5th decade,pages54–55:
        […]I haue learned this faſhion of St.Hieromethe Oracle of Antiquitie, vvho vvas vvont to entertaine hisPaula,andEuſtochium,Marcella,Principia,Hedibia,and other deuout Ladies, vvith learnedcanuaſesof the deep pointes of Diuinity.
      • 1647,Henry More,“[Philosophical Poems.] The Preface to the Reader.”, inAlexander B[alloch] Grosart,editor,The Complete Poems of Dr. Henry More (1614–1687)[…](Chertsey Worthies’ Library), [Edinburgh:[…]Edinburgh University Press;Thomas and Archibald Constable,[…]] for private circulation, published1878,→OCLC,page118:
        But mistake me not, Reader; I do not contend (in thus arguing) that this opinion of the Præexistency of the Soul, is true, but that it is not such a self-condemned Falsity, but that I might without justly incurring the censure of any Vainnesse or Levity, deem it worthy thecanvaseand discussion of sober and considerate men.
    2. (uncountable)Rejection(at anelection,of asuit,etc.).
      • 1624,Democritus Junior [pseudonym;Robert Burton], “Against Repulse, Abuses, Iniuries, Contempts, Disgraces, Contumelies, Slanders, Scoffes, &c.”, inThe Anatomy of Melancholy:[…],2nd edition, Oxford, Oxfordshire:[…]John Lichfield and James Short, for Henry Cripps,→OCLC,partition 2, section 3, member 7,page287:
        But vvhy ſhouldſt thou take thyCanvasſo to heart? It may bee thou art not fit. But as a childe that vveares his fathers ſhooes, hat, headpeece, breſtplate, or breeches; or holds his ſpeare, but is nether able to vveild the one, or vveare the other; ſo vvouldſt thou doe by ſuch an office or Magiſtracy, thou art vnfit.
      • 1626(first performance; published1652),James Shirley,“The Brothers”,inWilliam GiffordandAlexander Dyce,editors,The Dramatic Works and Poems of James Shirley,[…],volume I, London:John Murray,[…],published1833,→OCLC,Act I, scene i,page206:
        And now I'll tell thee, I have promis'd him / As much as marriage comes to, and I lose / My honour, if my don receive thecanvas.
Alternative forms
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Translations
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Etymology 2

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A variant ofcanvas(noun).

Noun

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canvass(countableanduncountable,pluralcanvasses)

  1. Obsoletespelling ofcanvas.
    • 1785August,Benjamin Franklin,“On Improvements in Navigation”, inJared Sparks,editor,Memoirs of the Life and Writings of Benjamin Franklin,[…],volume III, London:[…][Abraham John Valpy] forHenry Colburn,[…],published1818,→OCLC,part IV (Philosophical Subjects),page525:
      The double desire of being able to overtake a weaker flying enemy, or to escape when pursued by a stronger, has induced the owners to overmast their cruisers, and to spread too muchcanvass;and the great number of men, many of them not seamen, who being upon deck when a ship heels suddenly are huddled down to leeward, and increase by their weight the effect of the wind.

References

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  1. ^“canvass,v.”,inOED OnlinePaid subscription required⁠,Oxford, Oxfordshire:Oxford University Press,December 2021;“canvass,v.”,inLexico,Dictionary.com;Oxford University Press,2019–2022.
  2. ^“canvass,n.”,inOED OnlinePaid subscription required⁠,Oxford, Oxfordshire:Oxford University Press,December 2021;“canvass,n.”,inLexico,Dictionary.com;Oxford University Press,2019–2022.
  3. ^James Shirley(1833) “The Brothers”,inWilliam GiffordandAlexander Dyce,editors,The Dramatic Works and Poems of James Shirley,[…],volume I, London:John Murray,[…],→OCLC,Act I, scene i, footnote,page207.

Further reading

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