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canna

reed

noun KAHN-nah Rare
Animals & Nature Plants

Origin: From Latin 'canna' (reed), itself from Greek 'kanna'.

Also means

tube; joint (slang)

Usage Note

Canna has a wide semantic range: it can mean a reed or cane plant (canna da zucchero = sugar cane), a tube or pipe (canna fumaria = chimney flue), a fishing rod (canna da pesca), or — in informal Italian — a cannabis cigarette. Context is almost always sufficient to disambiguate. The plural is regular: canne.

Examples

"I bambini giocavano tra le canne del fiume."

Natural Translation

The children played among the river reeds.

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