Etymologically
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chant

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Pronunciation

  • UK: /t͡ʃɑːnt/[1]
  • US: /t͡ʃænt/[1]

Etymology

The verb is inherited from Middle English chaunten,[2][3][4] borrowed from Anglo-Norman chaunter, also chanter,[5] from Old French chanter (“to sing”),[6][3][7][8][9] Latin cantō (“to sing”), originally a frequentative of canō (“to sing”),[6][3][10][11] from Proto-Indo-European *kan- (“to sing”).[6][12] In Latin the frequentative sense was no longer felt, and by the time of French the word had replaced canō completely.[6] The noun is probably from French chant (“song”), from chant, cantus (“song, singing”), from the past participle of canō;[5][12][3][13] Etymonline and the Shorter Oxford also allow that it was formed from the English verb.[6][7] Barnhart and Merriam-Webster list the cognates of the Latin verb as Old Irish canim (“I sing”) and the Germanic words for the rooster, Old English hana, Old High German hano, Old Norse hani and Gothic 𐌷𐌰𐌽𐌰 (hana).[3][14] Ayto notes that canō is possibly related to hen.[15]

Earliest recorded meaning

To sing: in Chaucer's Miller's Tale, where Absolon chaunteth thus vnder oure boures wal (about 1390).[2][5][3] The Anglo-Norman verb had been used for singing, chanting the offices and celebrating Mass since the early 12th century.[9]

Semantic evolution

In Middle English the verb also meant to sing an accompaniment to a plainsong, to descant.[2][5] From about 1500 it was used of birds, and later, from 1573, of other animals.[5] The church sense, singing a psalm or canticle to a chant, is recorded from 1526;[5] Etymonline dates the sense "sing in a style between song and recitation, as in church" to the 1580s.[6] Chanting words as an incantation or ritual is recorded from 1577,[5] and the use for talking at length or harping on something from 1572.[5] Shouting a phrase over and over in a sing-song tone, as crowds do, is recorded only from 1948.[5] The noun is dated from about 1460 for a form of religious song in the revised OED,[5] whereas older references begin it with Milton's Paradise Lost (1671), where it means a song: With chant of tuneful birds resounding loud.[3][14][16] The Gregorian sense is recorded from 1789 in Etymonline,[6] a sing-song tone of voice from 1766, a repetitive ritual song from 1794, and a rhythmic phrase shouted by a crowd from 1848.[5] In thieves' cant a chant was a song and to chant to sing in the street for money;[17][5] the cant noun also meant a newspaper advertisement (1753–1865) and a person's name or address (1819–59).[5] In Banffshire dialect chant meant to talk a lot in a pert way.[18]

Timeline

  • c. 1390 – verb, to sing, in Chaucer.[2][5][3]
  • c. 1460 – noun, a form of religious song.[5]
  • c. 1500 – of a bird, to sing.[5]
  • 1526 – to sing a psalm or canticle to a chant.[5]
  • 1577 – to recite words rhythmically, as an incantation.[5]
  • 1671 – noun, a song, in Milton's Paradise Lost.[3][14]
  • 1753 – cant, a newspaper advertisement (obsolete by 1865).[5]
  • 1766 – a sing-song tone of voice.[5]
  • 1789 – a Gregorian melody.[6]
  • 1848 – a rhythmic phrase shouted by a crowd.[5]
  • 1948 – verb, to shout a phrase repeatedly in a sing-song tone.[5]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A short, simple melody in which several syllables or words are sung on one note, as in the singing of psalms; a psalm or canticle sung in this way: Gregorian chant.[19][20][5]
  2. A repeated rhythmic phrase or slogan, shouted or sung by a crowd: The fans kept up their chant until the final whistle.[20][19][5]
  3. A monotonous, sing-song intonation in speech.[20][5]
  4. (archaic) A song; singing.[19][5][14]

Verb

  1. To sing or intone a psalm, prayer or other text to a chant.[19][20][5]
  2. To say or shout something rhythmically and repeatedly: The marchers chanted the names of the missing.[20][5]
  3. To speak in a monotonous, sing-song way.[19][20]
  4. (archaic, poetic) To sing; to celebrate in song.[19][5][7]

Word family

  • chantingly
  • chantable
  • unchanted
  • plainchant
  • Anglican chant
  • Ambrosian chant
  • cant
  • cantor
  • chanter
  • enchant
  • Gregorian chant
  • incantation
  • chantry
  • chanticleer
  • chanty
  • cantata
  • canto
  • canticle
  • descant
  • accent
  • hen

References

  1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d Kurath, Hans; Kuhn, Sherman M.; Lewis, Robert E., eds. (1952–2001), Middle English Dictionary, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press; online edition ed. Frances McSparran et al. (2000–2018)
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  4. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z 27 28 29 Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  7. ^ a b c Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  8. ^ Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  9. ^ a b Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
  10. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  11. ^ Skeat, Walter W. (1911), A Concise Etymological Dictionary of the English Language, new ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
  12. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
  13. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
  14. ^ a b c d Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  15. ^ Ayto, John (2005), Word Origins: The Secret Histories of English Words from A to Z, 2nd ed., London: A & C Black
  16. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
  17. ^ Green, Jonathon (2010), Green's Dictionary of Slang, London: Chambers; digital ed. 2016–, https://greensdictofslang.com
  18. ^ Wright, Joseph, ed. (1898–1905), The English Dialect Dictionary, 6 vols., Oxford: Henry Frowde; via EDD Online 4.0, University of Innsbruck (CC BY 4.0)
  19. ^ a b c d e f The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
  20. ^ a b c d e f Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins