Meaning

noun a heavy, closely woven fabric (used for clothing or chairs or sails or tents)

noun an oil painting on canvas fabric

noun the setting for a narrative or fictional or dramatic account

originFrom Middle English canevas, from Anglo-Norman, from Old Northern French canevas (compare Old French chanevas, chenevas) from a root derived from Latin cannabis, from Ancient Greek κάνναβις (kánnabis). Compare French canevas, resulting from a blend of the Old French and a Picard dialect word, itself from Old Northern French. Doublet of cannabis and hemp.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 3.0