Ca·naan

(kā′nən)

An ancient region of the southern Levant including the land between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean as well as much of present-day Lebanon and Jordan and parts of western Syria. In the Bible it is the Promised Land of the Israelites.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Canaan

(ˈkeɪnən)

(Bible) an ancient region between the River Jordan and the Mediterranean, corresponding roughly to Israel: the Promised Land of the Israelites

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

Ca•naan

(ˈkeɪ nən)

n.

1. the ancient region lying between the Jordan, the Dead Sea, and the Mediterranean: the land promised by God to Abraham. Gen. 12:5–10.

2. Biblical name of Palestine (def 1).

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

Noun

Canaan - an ancient country in southwestern Asia on the east coast of the Mediterranean Sea; a place of pilgrimage for Christianity and Islam and Judaism

Holy Land, Promised Land, Palestine

Juda, Judah - an ancient kingdom of southern Palestine with Jerusalem as its center

Judaea, Judea - the southern part of ancient Palestine succeeding the kingdom of Judah; a Roman province at the time of Christ

Samaria - an ancient city in central Palestine founded in the 9th century BC as the capital of the northern Hebrew kingdom of Israel; the site is in present-day northwestern Jordan

Philistia - an ancient region on the coast of southwestern Palestine that was strategically located on a trade route between Syria and Egypt; important in biblical times

Asia - the largest continent with 60% of the earth's population; it is joined to Europe on the west to form Eurasia; it is the site of some of the world's earliest civilizations

Jordan, Jordan River - a river in Palestine that empties into the Dead Sea; John the Baptist baptized Jesus in the Jordan

chebab - a Palestinian juvenile 10-15 years old who fights against the Israelis

Translations

Kanaan

Kánaán

Kanaän

Canaan

[ˈkeɪnən] N → Canaán m

Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

Canaan

n → Kanaan nt

Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

Mentioned in

References in classic literature

There were others, which made incessant mention of "Jordan's banks," and "Canaan's fields," and the "New Jerusalem;" for the negro mind, impassioned and imaginative, always attaches itself to hymns and expressions of a vivid and pictorial nature; and, as they sung, some laughed, and some cried, and some clapped hands, or shook hands rejoicingly with each other, as if they had fairly gained the other side of the river.

"O Canaan, bright Canaan I'm bound for the land of Canaan."

View in context

It is a land of oil, true enough; but not like Canaan; a land, also, of corn and wine.

View in context

CANAAN he now attains, I see his Tents Pitcht about SECHEM, and the neighbouring Plaine Of MOREB; there by promise he receaves Gift to his Progenie of all that Land; From HAMATH Northward to the Desert South (Things by thir names I call, though yet unnam'd) From HERMON East to the great Western Sea, Mount HERMON, yonder Sea, each place behold In prospect, as I point them; on the shoare Mount CARMEL; here the double-founted stream JORDAN, true limit Eastward; but his Sons Shall dwell to SENIR, that long ridge of Hills.

And therefore shall not MOSES, though of God Highly belov'd, being but the Minister Of Law, his people into CANAAN lead; But JOSHUA whom the Gentiles JESUS call, His Name and Office bearing, who shall quell The adversarie Serpent, and bring back Through the worlds wilderness long wanderd man Safe to eternal Paradise of rest.

View in context

She said "England" as you might suppose an Israelite of Moses' days would have said Canaan.

View in context

For a long time Barbicane and his companions looked silently and sadly upon that world which they had only seen from a distance, as Moses saw the land of Canaan, and which they were leaving without a possibility of ever returning to it.

View in context

The successful New Canaan, Conn.-based store, located at 96 Main Street, has served the community for over 10 years, but due to downtown rents more than doubling over the past five years, it's made it difficult for locally based retail stores to make a meaningful profit.

Connecticut Retailer Closing its Doors

Irish Immigrants in the Land of Canaan: Letters and Memoirs from Colonial and Revolutionary America, 1675-1815.

Irish Immigrants in the Land of Canaan: Letters and Memoirs from Colonial and Revolutionary America, 1675-1815

Because of its historical setting and its enticing crime-story plot, Canaan's Tongue could work well in an advanced American history or literature course.

Wray, John. Canaan's tongue, a novel

New Canaan was a household name according to a 1953 issue of House and Garden magazine: it referred to five architects who designed houses for themselves and their clients in New Canaan, Connecticut.

The Harvard Five in New Canaan

As for this novel's focus on the past, what better mystery to solve than tracking down (and punishing) the momma of a baby found floating in Canaan Creek.

The Sisterhood of Blackberry Corner