Canal vs. Channel — What's the Difference?
Edited by Tayyaba Rehman — By Fiza Rafique — Updated on November 2, 2023
A canal is a man-made waterway for transportation or irrigation, while a channel can be a natural or artificial passage for water or a means of communication.
Difference Between Canal and Channel
Table of Contents
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Key Differences
A canal is typically an artificial waterway created for the purpose of navigation, irrigation, or water supply. It is constructed on land and often connects two larger bodies of water, like seas or rivers, enabling transportation and shipping. The famous Suez Canal facilitates shipping between Europe and Asia without navigating around Africa.
Channels have a broader scope in terms of definition. Natural channels are formed by the movement of water and are part of a river or estuary. Man-made channels are often created for drainage or irrigation. Moreover, the term "channel" extends beyond geography to describe a medium through which something is conveyed, such as a television channel or a channel of communication.
In essence, while a canal is engineered for specific purposes and typically contains regular traffic of boats or ships, a channel may not be designed for such specific uses. Channels in communication refer to the system or method by which information is transmitted, which can be quite distinct from the concept of a waterway.
The word "canal" comes from the Latin "canalis," meaning a pipe or groove. It signifies the control and direction given to the water flow, designed by human engineering. On the other hand, "channel" originates from the Latin "canalis" too, but has taken a broader meaning over time, signifying a path or a route, which could be used for various types of flows, not just water.
Therefore, canals are a subset of channels with a focus on transportation and irrigation. The term "channel" has a wider application, extending to natural geography and various fields of communication, from the pathways of rivers to the frequencies of radio and television broadcasts.
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Comparison Chart
Definition
Man-made waterway for transport and irrigation.
Natural or artificial passage for water or data.
Origination
Always artificial.
Can be natural or man-made.
Purpose
Navigation, irrigation, water supply.
Water flow, communication paths.
Types
Aqueducts, shipping canals.
River channels, TV channels, communication paths.
Related Terms
Lock, barge, towpath.
Streambed, frequency, medium.
Compare with Definitions
Canal
For irrigation.
The new canal has improved irrigation in the valley.
Channel
Natural waterway.
The English Channel separates Southern England from northern France.
Canal
Engineering feat.
The construction of the canal was a major engineering challenge.
Channel
Medium for communication.
She tuned into the news channel.
Canal
Enclosed channel.
The canal routes water from the river into the city.
Channel
Frequency band.
The radio operates on an assigned channel.
Canal
Transportation route.
Barges frequently travel through the canal.
Channel
A length of water wider than a strait, joining two larger areas of water, especially two seas.
Canal
Canals are waterway channels, or artificial waterways, for water conveyance, or for servicing water transport vehicles. They carry free surface flow under atmospheric pressure, and can be thought of as artificial rivers.
Channel
A band of frequencies used in radio and television transmission, especially as used by a particular station.
Canal
An artificial waterway constructed to allow the passage of boats or ships inland or to convey water for irrigation
The Oxford Canal
They travelled on by canal
Channel
A method or system for communication or distribution
Some companies have a variety of sales channels
They didn't apply through the proper channels
Canal
A tubular duct in a plant or animal, serving to convey or contain food, liquid, or air
The ear canal
Channel
An electric circuit which acts as a path for a signal
An audio channel
Canal
Any of a number of linear markings formerly reported as seen by telescope on the planet Mars.
Channel
A tubular passage or duct for liquid
Fish eggs have a small channel called the micropyle
Canal
An artificial waterway or artificially improved river used for travel, shipping, or irrigation.
Channel
Direct towards a particular end or object
The council is to channel public funds into training schemes
Canal
(Anatomy) A tube, duct, or passageway.
Channel
Form channels or grooves in
Pottery with a distinctive channelled decoration
Canal
(Astronomy) One of the faint, hazy markings resembling straight lines on early telescopic images of the surface of Mars.
Channel
The bed of a stream or river.
Canal
To dig an artificial waterway through
Canal an isthmus.
Channel
The deeper part of a river or harbor, especially a deep navigable passage.
Canal
To provide with an artificial waterway or waterways.
Channel
A broad strait, especially one that connects two seas.
Canal
An artificial waterway or artificially improved river used for travel, shipping, or irrigation.
Channel
A trench, furrow, or groove.
Canal
(anatomy) A tubular channel within the body.
Channel
A tubular passage for liquids; a conduit.
Canal
(astronomy) One of the faint, hazy markings resembling straight lines on early telescopic images of the surface of Mars; see Martian canals
Channel
A course or pathway through which information is transmitted
New channels of thought.
A reliable channel of information.
Canal
To dig an artificial waterway in or to (a place), especially for drainage
Channel
Often channels A route of communication or access
Took her request through official channels.
Canal
To travel along a canal by boat
Channel
In communications theory, a gesture, action, sound, written or spoken word, or visual image used in transmitting information.
Canal
An artificial channel filled with water and designed for navigation, or for irrigating land, etc.
Channel
(Electronics) A specified frequency band for the transmission and reception of electromagnetic signals, as for television signals.
Canal
A tube or duct; as, the alimentary canal; the semicircular canals of the ear.
Channel
A continuous program of audio or video content distributed by a television, radio, or internet broadcaster.
Canal
A long and relatively narrow arm of the sea, approximately uniform in width; - used chiefly in proper names; as, Portland Canal; Lynn Canal.
Channel
A company or other entity presenting such content.
Canal
(astronomy) an indistinct surface feature of Mars once thought to be a system of channels; they are now believed to be an optical illusion
Channel
(Computers) A chatroom on an online network.
Canal
A bodily passage or tube lined with epithelial cells and conveying a secretion or other substance;
The tear duct was obstructed
The alimentary canal
Poison is released through a channel in the snake's fangs
Channel
The medium through which a spirit guide purportedly communicates with the physical world.
Canal
Long and narrow strip of water made for boats or for irrigation
Channel
A rolled metal bar with a bracket-shaped section.
Canal
Provide (a city) with a canal
Channel
See ion channel.
Canal
Man-made waterway.
The Panama Canal revolutionized maritime trade.
Channel
See protein channel.
Channel
A wood or steel ledge projecting from a sailing ship's sides to spread the shrouds and keep them clear of the gunwales.
Channel
To make or cut channels in.
Channel
To form a groove or flute in.
Channel
To direct or guide along some desired course
Channels her curiosity into research.
Channel young people into good jobs.
Channel
To serve as a medium for (a spirit guide).
Channel
To use or follow as a model; imitate
A politician channeling bygone conservatives to appear stronger on defense.
Channel
The physical confine of a river or slough, consisting of a bed and banks.
The water coming out of the waterwheel created a standing wave in the channel.
Channel
The natural or man-made deeper course through a reef, bar, bay, or any shallow body of water.
A channel was dredged to allow ocean-going vessels to reach the city.
Channel
The navigable part of a river.
We were careful to keep our boat in the channel.
Channel
A narrow body of water between two land masses.
The English Channel lies between France and England.
Channel
Something through which another thing passes; a means of conveying or transmitting.
The news was conveyed to us by different channels.
Channel
A gutter; a groove, as in a fluted column.
Channel
A structural member with a cross section shaped like a squared-off letter C.
Channel
(electronics) A connection between initiating and terminating nodes of a circuit.
The guard-rail provided the channel between the downed wire and the tree.
Channel
(electronics) The narrow conducting portion of a MOSFET transistor.
Channel
(communication) The part that connects a data source to a data sink.
A channel stretches between them.
Channel
(communication) A path for conveying electrical or electromagnetic signals, usually distinguished from other parallel paths.
We are using one of the 24 channels.
Channel
(communication) A single path provided by a transmission medium via physical separation, such as by multipair cable.
The channel is created by bonding the signals from these four pairs.
Channel
(communication) A single path provided by a transmission medium via spectral or protocol separation, such as by frequency or time-division multiplexing.
Their call is being carried on channel 6 of the T-1 line.
Channel
(broadcasting) A specific radio frequency or band of frequencies, usually in conjunction with a predetermined letter, number, or codeword, and allocated by international agreement.
KNDD is the channel at 107.7 MHz in Seattle.
Channel
(broadcasting) A specific radio frequency or band of frequencies used for transmitting television.
NBC is on channel 11 in San Jose.
Channel
(storage) The portion of a storage medium, such as a track or a band, that is accessible to a given reading or writing station or head.
This chip in this disk drive is the channel device.
Channel
The part of a turbine pump where the pressure is built up.
The liquid is pressurized in the lateral channel.
Channel
A distribution channel
Channel
(Internet) A particular area for conversations on an IRC network, analogous to a chat room and often dedicated to a specific topic.
Channel
A means of delivering up-to-date Internet content.
Channel
A psychic or medium who temporarily takes on the personality of somebody else.
Channel
(nautical) The wale of a sailing ship which projects beyond the gunwale and to which the shrouds attach via the chains. One of the flat ledges of heavy plank bolted edgewise to the outside of a vessel, to increase the spread of the shrouds and carry them clear of the bulwarks.
Channel
(transitive) To make or cut a channel or groove in.
Channel
(transitive) To direct or guide along a desired course.
We will channel the traffic to the left with these cones.
Channel
To serve as a medium for.
She was channeling the spirit of her late husband, Seth.
Channel
(transitive) To follow as a model, especially in a performance.
He was trying to channel President Reagan, but the audience wasn't buying it.
When it is my turn to sing karaoke, I am going to channel Ray Charles.
Channel
The hollow bed where a stream of water runs or may run.
Channel
The deeper part of a river, harbor, strait, etc., where the main current flows, or which affords the best and safest passage for vessels.
Channel
A strait, or narrow sea, between two portions of lands; as, the British Channel.
Channel
That through which anything passes; a means of passing, conveying, or transmitting; as, the news was conveyed to us by different channels.
The veins are converging channels.
At best, he is but a channel to convey to the National assembly such matter as may import that body to know.
Channel
A gutter; a groove, as in a fluted column.
Channel
Flat ledges of heavy plank bolted edgewise to the outside of a vessel, to increase the spread of the shrouds and carry them clear of the bulwarks.
Channel
Official routes of communication, especially the official means by which information should be transmitted in a bureaucracy; as, to submit a request through channels; you have to go through channels.
Channel
A band of electromagnetic wave frequencies that is used for one-way or two-way radio communication; especially, the frequency bands assigned by the FTC for use in television broadcasting, and designated by a specific number; as, channel 2 in New York is owned by CBS.
Channel
One of the signals in an electronic device which receives or sends more than one signal simultaneously, as in stereophonic radios, records, or CD players, or in measuring equipment which gathers multiple measurements simultaneously.
Channel
An opening in a cell membrane which serves to actively transport or allow passive transport of substances across the membrane; as, an ion channel in a nerve cell.
Channel
A path for transmission of signals between devices within a computer or between a computer and an external device; as, a DMA channel.
Channel
To form a channel in; to cut or wear a channel or channels in; to groove.
No more shall trenching war channel her fields.
Channel
To course through or over, as in a channel.
Channel
A path over which electrical signals can pass;
A channel is typically what you rent from a telephone company
Channel
A passage for water (or other fluids) to flow through;
The fields were crossed with irrigation channels
Gutters carried off the rainwater into a series of channels under the street
Channel
A long narrow furrow cut either by a natural process (such as erosion) or by a tool (as e.g. a groove in a phonograph record)
Channel
A deep and relatively narrow body of water (as in a river or a harbor or a strait linking two larger bodies) that allows the best passage for vessels;
The ship went aground in the channel
Channel
(often plural) a means of communication or access;
It must go through official channels
Lines of communication were set up between the two firms
Channel
A bodily passage or tube lined with epithelial cells and conveying a secretion or other substance;
The tear duct was obstructed
The alimentary canal
Poison is released through a channel in the snake's fangs
Channel
A television station and its programs;
A satellite TV channel
Surfing through the channels
They offer more than one hundred channels
Channel
A way of selling a company's product either directly or via distributors;
Possible distribution channels are wholesalers or small retailers or retail chains or direct mailers or your own stores
Channel
Transmit or serve as the medium for transmission;
Sound carries well over water
The airwaves carry the sound
Many metals conduct heat
Channel
Direct the flow of;
Channel infomartion towards a broad audience
Channel
Send from one person or place to another;
Transmit a message
Channel
Pathway for transmission.
The channel is used for data transmission between the devices.
Channel
Defined course of direction.
The pilot navigated through the channel marked by buoys.
Common Curiosities
Can a canal be natural?
No, canals are artificial structures.
How is a channel different from a canal?
A channel can be a natural or artificial passage for water or a medium for communication, whereas a canal is always man-made.
Are all channels water-related?
No, channels can also refer to paths for communication, like TV channels.
Can a river have a canal?
Yes, canals can be constructed to connect with or divert water from a river.
What is a canal?
A canal is a man-made waterway constructed for navigation, irrigation, or water supply.
Is a channel on a TV the same as a water channel?
The concept is similar in terms of being a path or medium, but one is for water flow and the other for broadcasting signals.
Are channels for communication always invisible?
Not necessarily, they can have physical components like cables, but the signals themselves are often invisible.
What's the purpose of a canal lock?
A canal lock raises and lowers boats between stretches of water of different levels on river and canal waterways.
Can canals be used for recreation?
Yes, many canals are also used for recreational boating and sightseeing.
Are canals safe for swimming?
It depends on the canal, but many are not safe due to boat traffic and water quality issues.
What is a shipping channel?
It's a regularly navigated path for commercial ships at sea or on a large lake.
Do canals always have locks?
Not always, but locks are common in canals to manage water levels and aid navigation.
How are channels formed naturally?
Natural channels are usually formed by the erosion of rock and soil by the flow of water over time.
How do canals impact the environment?
Canals can alter local ecosystems, affecting water tables and wildlife.
Do channels facilitate flood control?
Yes, both natural and artificial channels can help manage and direct floodwaters.
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Written by
Fiza RafiqueFiza Rafique is a skilled content writer at AskDifference.com, where she meticulously refines and enhances written pieces. Drawing from her vast editorial expertise, Fiza ensures clarity, accuracy, and precision in every article. Passionate about language, she continually seeks to elevate the quality of content for readers worldwide.
Edited by
Tayyaba RehmanTayyaba Rehman is a distinguished writer, currently serving as a primary contributor to askdifference.com. As a researcher in semantics and etymology, Tayyaba's passion for the complexity of languages and their distinctions has found a perfect home on the platform. Tayyaba delves into the intricacies of language, distinguishing between commonly confused words and phrases, thereby providing clarity for readers worldwide.
