Canopy is the term skydivers use for the parachute once it is open. Modern sport canopies are ram-air wings — rectangular or tapered fabric aerofoils that inflate through open cells at the front and generate lift, rather than simply creating drag.
It is a wing, not an umbrella
The round parachutes of popular imagination descend more or less vertically. A ram-air canopy flies forward at roughly 20 to 30 mph, can be steered and flared, and lands more like a small aircraft than a falling object.
This is why canopy flight takes up most of a skydive's duration and why canopy handling is a skill in its own right, with dedicated coaching courses at larger drop zones.
Size and wing loading
Canopies are described by area in square feet. Wing loading — exit weight divided by canopy area — determines how a canopy behaves: lightly loaded canopies are slower and more forgiving, heavily loaded ones are faster and less tolerant of mistakes.
Downsizing too quickly is a well-recognised cause of serious injury in the sport. Canopy choice is a conversation with your instructors and a rigger, informed by your own jump numbers and currency.
These pages explain what things are so the language makes sense. They are not instruction and cannot substitute for it — skydiving is taught in person by rated instructors at a drop zone, and anything involving equipment handling or emergency procedures belongs there rather than on a web page.