[chant, chahnt] 
| 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. |
| 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. |
| 12. | to sing. |
| 13. | to utter a chant. |
| chant (chānt) n.
v. tr.
[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. |
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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