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chant - 7 dictionary results

chant

  [chant, chahnt]
Use chant in a Sentence
–noun
1. a short, simple melody, esp. one characterized by single notes to which an indefinite number of syllables are intoned, used in singing psalms, canticles, etc., in church services.
2. a psalm, canticle, or the like, chanted or for chanting.
3. the singing or intoning of all or portions of a liturgical service.
4. any monotonous song.
5. a song; singing: the chant of a bird.
6. a monotonous intonation of the voice in speaking.
7. a phrase, slogan, or the like, repeated rhythmically and insistently, as by a crowd.
–verb (used with object)
8. to sing to a chant, or in the manner of a chant, esp. in a church service.
9. to sing.
10. to celebrate in song.
11. to repeat (a phrase, slogan, etc.) rhythmically and insistently.
–verb (used without object)
12. to sing.
13. to utter a chant.
Origin:
1350–1400; (v.) ME chanten < MF chanter < L cantāre, freq. of canere to sing; (n.) < F chant < L cantus; see canto

Related forms:
chant⋅a⋅ble, adjective
chant⋅ing⋅ly, adverb
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To chant
chant   (chānt)   
n.  
    1. A short, simple series of syllables or words that are sung on or intoned to the same note or a limited range of notes.
    2. A canticle or prayer sung or intoned in this manner.
    3. A song or melody.
  2. A monotonous rhythmic call or shout, as of a slogan: the chant of the crowd at the rally.
v.   chant·ed, chant·ing, chants

v.   tr.
  1. To sing or intone to a chant: chant a prayer.
  2. To celebrate in song: chanting a hero's deeds.
  3. To say in the manner of a chant: chanted defiant slogans.
v.   intr.
  1. To sing, especially in the manner of a chant: chanted while a friend jumped rope.
  2. To speak monotonously.

[Probably from French, song, from Old French, from Latin cantus, from past participle of canere, to sing. V., from Middle English chaunten, to sing, from Old French chanter, from Latin cantāre, frequentative of canere; see kan- in Indo-European roots.]
chant'ing·ly adv.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Chant

Chant\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Chanted; p. pr. & vb. n. Chanting.] [F. chanter, fr. L. cantare, intens. of canere to sing. Cf. Cant affected speaking, and see Hen.]

1. To utter with a melodious voice; to sing.

The cheerful birds . . . do chant sweet music. --Spenser.

2. To celebrate in song.

The poets chant in the theaters. --Bramhall.

3. (Mus.) To sing or recite after the manner of a chant, or to a tune called a chant.

Chant

Chant\, v. i. 1. To make melody with the voice; to sing. "Chant to the sound of the viol." --Amos vi. 5.

2. (Mus.) To sing, as in reciting a chant.

To chant (or chaunt) horses, to sing their praise; to overpraise; to cheat in selling. See Chaunter. --Thackeray.

Chant

Chant\, n.[F. chant, fr. L. cantus singing, song, fr. canere to sing. See Chant, v. t.]

1. Song; melody.

2. (Mus.) A short and simple melody, divided into two parts by double bars, to which unmetrical psalms, etc., are sung or recited. It is the most ancient form of choral music.

3. A psalm, etc., arranged for chanting.

4. Twang; manner of speaking; a canting tone. [R.]

His strange face, his strange chant. --Macaulay.

Ambrosian chant, See under Ambrosian.

Chant royal [F.], in old French poetry, a poem containing five strophes of eleven lines each, and a concluding stanza. -- each of these six parts ending with a common refrain.

Gregorian chant. See under Gregorian.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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Language Translation for : chant
Spanish: cantar,
German: singen,
Japanese: 唱える
More Translations »

chant 
c.1386, from O.Fr. chanter, from L. cantare, freq. of canere "sing," from PIE base *kan- "to sing" (cf. Gk. eikanos "cock," O.E. hana "cock," both lit. "bird who sings for sunrise;" O.Ir. caniaid "sings," Welsh canu "sing"). The frequentative quality of the word was no longer felt in L., and by the time Fr. emerged the word had entirely displaced canere.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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chant

the Gregorian chant (q.v.) and, by extension, other similar religious chants. The word derives from the 13th-century Latin term cantus planus ("plain song"), referring to the unmeasured rhythm and monophony (single line of melody) of Gregorian chant, as distinguished from the measured rhythm of polyphonic (multipart) music, called cantus mensuratus, or cantus figuratus ("measured," or "figured," song). Its other main application is to ancient Christian music with the same unmeasured rhythm and monophony-in the West, Ambrosian, Gallican, and Mozarabic chants (qq.v.); in the East, Byzantine, Syrian, Coptic, Ethiopian, and Armenian chants (qq.v.). It may also refer to similar non-Christian religious music, such as Jewish and Hindu chants.

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Encyclopedia Britannica, 2008. Encyclopedia Britannica Online.
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