canto

canto¹ song

Etymology tree of canto¹

inherited borrowed derived

Latin canō

Latin cantus

Italian canto

Spanish canto

From the same root · canto¹

Latin būcina ← canō

Latin canor ← canō

Latin cantiō ← canō

Latin cantō ← canō

Latin cantor ← canō

Latin cantrīx ← canō

Latin carmen ← canō

Latin concinō ← canō

Latin incinō ← canō

Latin luscinia ← canō

Latin recino ← canō

English canto ← cantus

English descant ← cantus

Latin canticum ← cantus

Latin discantus ← cantus

Pronunciation

• /ˈkan.to/^[1]

Forms

canto m (plural canti)^[1]

Etymology

The word for song is inherited from Latin cantus (“song, singing”), the noun of canō (“to sing”).^[2][3][4][1] The Latin noun continues across the Romance languages except Romanian: French chant, Occitan can, Catalan cant, Spanish canto, Portuguese canto, Friulian ciant.^[3][5][6]

The Latin verb goes back to a Proto-Indo-European root for “sing”, but de Vaan finds no agreement on its exact form.^[7] From the same verb came cantō (“to sing”), formed on its participle, and canticum, which gave Italian cantico and cantica.^[7][2]

Earliest recorded meaning

The LEI's earliest record is Lombard, the phrase canto de noia in the verse of Patecchio at the beginning of the 13th century;^[5] Tuscan copies of Giacomo da Lentini (1230–1250) follow.^[5] DELI dates the sense “modulation of the voice” from Ristoro in 1282, who links the planet Venus with women, beauty and li canti d'amore “love songs”.^[2][8]

Semantic evolution

Dante used the word for a poem and for each of the parts of a long poem, the sense in which the Divina Commedia has its canti.^[2][9][4] Later senses are musical: a melody (1562) and the highest part of a polyphonic piece and the voice that sings it (1596).^[9] The LEI also separates the singing of animals and a figurative sense of charm or joy.^[5]

The phrase canto del cigno “swan song” comes from the ancient belief that a dying swan sings with special sweetness.^[2] In Florence, from the time of the Medici, canto also meant a carnival masquerade.^[10]

English took the word in the literary sense: Spenser has it for a section of a long poem in 1590.^[11][9] French canto (1703) and German Canto (1806) are musical terms.^[9]

Timeline

• Early 13th century – Patecchio's Lombard verse has canto de noia.^[5]
• 1230–1250 – Canto appears in Tuscan copies of Giacomo da Lentini.^[5]
• 1282 – Ristoro d'Arezzo uses canti for songs.^[2][4]
• Before 1321 – Dante uses the word for a poem and its parts.^[2][9]
• 1562 – The sense “melody” is recorded.^[9]
• 1590 – English canto appears, for a section of a long poem.^[9][11]
• 1596 – Canto names the highest part of a polyphonic composition.^[9]
• 1703 – French canto is recorded as a musical term.^[9]
• 1806 – German Canto is recorded.^[9]

Meanings

Noun

1. singing: the production of musical sounds with the human voice.^[4][12][13]
2. A song, a piece of music for the voice: un canto dei pescatori.^[4][13][1]
3. The art or technique of singing: lezioni di canto.^[4][12]
4. The song of birds; by extension the sound of some insects: il canto del merlo, il canto di una cicala.^[4][13]
5. The sound of a musical instrument, or a steady sound made by things.^[4][13]
6. (music) The vocal part of a composition; a melody.^[4][13]
7. A lyric poem, sometimes meant to be sung: i Canti of Leopardi.^[4][13]
8. A canto, one of the parts into which a long poem is divided.^[4][13][1]
9. (literary) Poetry, poetic style.^[4]

Word family

• cantino
• discanto
• bel canto

canto² corner

Etymology tree of canto²

inherited borrowed derived

Latin canthus

Italian canto

Forms

canto m (plural canti)^[1]

Etymology

The word for corner is inherited from Late Latin canthus, a Late Latin noun.^{[2][14][4][1]} It is recorded from the 1st century in Persius for the iron rim of a wheel, a word that the Spanish-born Quintilian took to be Hispanic or African, and in Marcellus Empiricus and Oribasius for the corner of the eye, a sense taken from Ancient Greek κανθός (kanthós, “corner of the eye”).^[14][15][3] The Romance outcomes show that it also meant edge or border, and hence corner or side: French chant, Occitan can, Spanish canto, Portuguese canto.^[3][6][15]

Its further origin is disputed.^[2][3][1] DELI derives it from the Greek word, which it considers Celtic in origin.^[2] Nocentini compares the Greek word and Celtic forms such as Welsh cant (“rim”) and Breton kant (“circle”), but finds it impossible to tell whether these are loans or in which direction.^[3] Wiktionary takes the word for the wheel rim from Gaulish and ultimately Proto-Celtic *kantos (“corner, rim”), with the spelling ⟨th⟩ due to the Greek word, which was conflated with it.^[1] Pokorny started from an Indo-European base meaning “corner, bend”.^[15]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLIO's first record is the Judaeo-Italian Elegy of the early 13th century, from central Italy.^[16] DELI's first dates are Brunetto Latini, before 1294, for “side, part”, and Dante, 1304–1308, for the corner where two walls meet: Lo pentangulo, cioè la figura che ha cinque canti “the pentagon, that is the figure with five corners”.^[2][8]

Semantic evolution

In Old Italian the word named a corner between two lines or surfaces, the corner of the eye, a street corner used as a landmark, an end, a scrap, and a small secluded place; it also meant a side, in phrases such as di canto in canto “everywhere”.^[16] Street corners still give place names in Florence and Palermo, such as the Quattro Canti.^[12] The old plural was càntora.^[14][16]

The anatomical sense, the corner of the eye, was taken again from Latin in the 17th century.^[15] The same Latin word gave cantone, cantina and accanto.^[15][6] Cantone as an administrative unit and cantoniera and cantoniere were borrowed from French.^[2]

Timeline

• Early 13th century – The Judaeo-Italian Elegy has the earliest record.^[16]
• Before 1294 – Brunetto Latini uses canto for “side, part”.^[2][4]
• 1304–1308 – Dante's Convivio uses it for a corner.^[2][8]
• 17th century – The sense “corner of the eye” is taken from Latin.^[15]

Meanings

Noun

1. A corner, inside a room or outside where two walls meet: nascosto in un canto del cortile.^[4][12][13]
2. A side, part; mostly in phrases such as d'altro canto “on the other hand” and da un canto “on one hand”.^[4][13]
3. (anatomy) The corner of the eye, where the eyelids meet.^[4][14]
4. (regional) A lane, a narrow street.^[4]

Word family

• accanto
• cantone
• cantonata
• cantuccio
• cantina