can [OE] Nowadays a can is a cylindrical metal container, but its ancestor, Old English cann, was a general word for any container for liquids. It may come from Latin canna (see cannon). In early film-making can [E20th] was used for the storage container for the film, and film-makers could talk about something being in the can for ‘ready, complete’. Though digital recordings are not stored in cans, the older expression has been transferred to them. See also cunning, know, worm.