ca·naille \kəˈnī, -ˈnā(ə)l\noun Etymology: French, from Italian canaglia, from cane dog, from Latin canis — more at hound 1.singular or plural in construction: mob, rabble, riffraff < the shoeblacks and linkboys and all the idling canaille of Dublin — Malachy Hynes > 2.-s: a member of the canaille