cantor

Forms

cantor m (plural cantores, feminine cantora, feminine plural cantoras)^[1] A 14th-century text writes cãtor.^[2]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin cantor (“singer”).^[2][1][3][4] The Latin noun is formed from canō (“to sing”) with the agent suffix -tor.^[5][1] De Vaan derives the verb from Proto-Indo-European *kh₂n-e- (“to sing”).^[6]

The same Latin word is Spanish cantor, Galician cantor, Italian cantore and Romanian cantor.^[7][1] The French form is chantre, borrowed into Spanish as chantre.^[7][1] The French form also reached Galician-Portuguese as Old Galician-Portuguese chantre in the 13th century, beside the native word.^[8]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first records are charters naming church officials: frey Menendo, cantor in 1265 and Pedro Eanes cantor in 1266.^[8][2] The DDGM glosses these as “precentor”, the cleric who leads the singing of a choir, and the Crónica Geral uses the word once in the same sense.^[8][9]

Semantic evolution

From the leader of church singing the word widened to anyone who sings and to the professional singer.^[2] Cardoso's dictionary of 1562 glosses it with Latin cantor and psalta.^[10][2] Vieira (1871–1874) adds the poet, above all the epic poet, and calls Camões the great cantor of the Portuguese.^[11] The feminine is cantora, and also the learned cantatriz.^[12][13] Aurélio records the musical senses “precentor”, “choirmaster in Germany” and “director of a school of sacred music”.^[12] In the River Plate the cantor was a wandering gaucho who sang his heroes and his own story to the guitar.^[14]

Timeline

• 1265 – frey Menendo, cantor in a charter.^[8][2]
• 1266 – Pedro Eanes cantor.^[8]
• 14th century – the spelling cãtor.^[2]
• 1562 – Cardoso's dictionary enters Cantor.^[10]
• 1871–1874 – Vieira records the sense “poet”.^[11]

Meanings

Noun

1. A person who sings (cantar); a singer.^[2][15][1]
2. A professional singer: um cantor de ópera.^[2][12]
3. A poet who celebrates heroes and great deeds.^[2][15]
4. (music) A precentor, chantre; in Germany, a choirmaster.^[12]

Adjective

1. That sings: aves cantoras.^[2][15]

Related words

• cantar
• canto
• cantiga
• chantre
• Latin cantor

Usage notes

Cantor de banheiro (Brazil) is a joking name for someone who sings badly, or sings only for themselves.^[16][12]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Houaiss, Antônio; Villar, Mauro de Salles (2001), Dicionário Houaiss da língua portuguesa, Rio de Janeiro: Objetiva, p. s.v. cantor
3. ^ Cunha, Antônio Geraldo da (2010), Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa, 4th ed., Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon, p. s.v. cantilena
4. ^ Nascentes, Antenor (1966), Dicionário etimológico resumido, Rio de Janeiro: Instituto Nacional do Livro, p. s.v. cantor
5. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. s.v. cantor
6. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill, p. s.v. canō
7. ^ a b Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter, p. 1619a
8. ^ a b c d e Instituto da Lingua Galega, Dicionario de dicionarios do galego medieval (DDGM), ed. Ernesto González Seoane, Santiago de Compostela: Universidade de Santiago de Compostela, https://ilg.usc.gal/ddgm, p. s.v. cantor
9. ^ Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill, p. s.v. cantor
10. ^ a b Cardoso, Jerónimo (1562), Dictionarium juventuti studiosae admodum frugiferum, Coimbra: João Álvares (CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. cantor
11. ^ a b Vieira, Frei Domingos (1871–1874), Grande Diccionario Portuguez ou Thesouro da lingua portugueza, 5 vols., Porto: Ernesto Chardron e Bartholomeu H. de Moraes, p. 2, 86
12. ^ a b c d e Ferreira, Aurélio Buarque de Holanda, Novo dicionário Aurélio da língua portuguesa, digital edition, p. s.v. cantor
13. ^ Michaelis: Moderno Dicionário da Língua Portuguesa, São Paulo: Melhoramentos (online as Michaelis Dicionário Brasileiro da Língua Portuguesa, https://michaelis.uol.com.br), p. s.v. cantor
14. ^ Schlee, Aldyr Garcia (2019), Dicionário da Cultura Pampeana Sul-Rio-Grandense, 2 vols., Pelotas: Fructos do Paiz, p. s.v. cantor
15. ^ a b c Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa, Lisboa: Priberam Informática, https://dicionario.priberam.org, p. s.v. cantor
16. ^ Aulete, Francisco Júlio Caldas, Dicionário contemporâneo da língua portuguesa (1st ed. 1881), online as Aulete Digital, Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon, https://aulete.com.br, p. s.v. cantor