Canvas

n. [Fr. canevas, Pr. canabas, It. canavaccio, Sp. cañamazo, Pg. canham aço, calham aço, from Lat. cannabis, cannabus, Gr. κᾰνναβις, κᾰνναβος, hemp, Fr. chanvre, Pr. cambre, cambe, carbe, canep, canebe, It. canapa, canape, Sp. cáñamo, Pg. canhamo, canamo, canemo.] 1. A coarse cloth made of hemp or flax, used for tents, sails of ships, painting, and other purposes. By glimmering lanes and walls of canvas led. Tennyson.

2. A clear, unbleached cloth, wove regularly in little squares, used for working tapestry with the needle.
3. The rough draught or model on which an air or piece of music is composed, containing certain notes of the composer, to show the poet who finishes it the measure of the verses he is to make. [France.]
4. (Naut.) The sails of a vessel.

To suit his canvas to the roughness of the sea and the trim of the vessel. Goldsmith.