Emily Dickinson Lexicon

CAN'O-PY, n. [Gr. κωνωπειον, a pavilion or net spread over a bed to keep off gnats, from κωνωψ, a gnat.]

1. A covering over a throne or over a bed; more generally a covering over the head. So the sky is called a canopy, and a canopy is borne over the head in processions.
2. In architecture and sculpture, a magnificent decoration serving to cover and crown an altar, throne, tribunal, pulpit, chair or the like. – Encyc.