from Canadian French chenail, from French chenalchannel1
snye in American English
(snai)
noun Canadian(chiefly in Ontario)
1.
a backwater
2.
a side-channel, esp. one that later rejoins the main stream
3.
a channel joining two rivers
Word origin
[1810–20; prob. ‹ CanF chenail, chenal channel, F chenal, b. OF chanel, chenelchannel1 and canalcanal]This word is first recorded in the period 1810–20. Other words that entered Englishat around the same time include: dynamic, liberalism, unitary, voodoo, zombie