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shanty - 12 dictionary results

shan⋅ty

1  [shan-tee] noun, plural -ties, adjective, verb, -tied, -ty⋅ing.
Use shanty in a Sentence
–noun
1. a crudely built hut, cabin, or house.
–adjective
2. of, pertaining to, or constituting a shanty or shanties: a shanty quarter outside the town walls.
3. of a low economic or social class, esp. when living in a shanty: shanty people.
–verb (used without object)
4. to inhabit a shanty.
Origin:
1810–20; prob. < CanF chantier lumber camp, hut; F: yard, depot, gantry, stand for barrels < L cant(h)ērius rafter, prop, lit., horse in poor condition, nag < Gk kanthlios pack ass

Related forms:
shan⋅ty⋅like, adjective

shan⋅ty

2  [shan-tee]
–noun, plural -ties.
chantey.

chant⋅ey

  [shan-tee, chan-]
–noun, plural -eys.
a sailors' song, esp. one sung in rhythm to work.
Also, chanty, shantey, shanty.

Origin:
1855–60; alter. of F chanter to sing; see chant
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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chan·tey also chan·ty   (shān'tē, chān'-)   
n.   pl. chan·teys also chan·ties or shan·teys or shan·ties
A song sung by sailors to the rhythm of their movements while working.

[Probably from French chantez, imperative pl. of chanter, to sing, from Old French; see chant.]
shan·ty 1   (shān'tē)   
n.   pl. shan·ties
A roughly built, often ramshackle cabin; a shack.

[Probably from Canadian French chantier, hut in a lumber camp, from French, timberyard, from Old French, gantry, from Latin canthērius, rafter, nag, from Greek kanthēlios, pack ass.]
shan·ty 2   (shān'tē)   
n.  Variant of chantey.
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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Shanty

Shan"ty\, a. Jaunty; showy. [Prov. Eng.]

Shanty

Shan"ty\, n.;pl. Shanties. [Said to be fr. Ir. sean old + tig. a house.] A small, mean dwelling; a rough, slight building for temporary use; a hut.

Shanty

Shan"ty\, v. i. To inhabit a shanty. --S. H. Hammond.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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Language Translation for : shanty
Spanish: chabola, barraca,
German: die Bude,
Japanese: 小屋
More Translations »

shanty  (1)
"rough cabin," 1820, from Fr. Canadian chantier "lumberjack's headquarters," in Fr., "timberyard, dock," from O.Fr. chantier "gantry," from L. cantherius "rafter, frame" (see gantry). Shanty-town is first recorded 1876; Shanty Irish is from 1928 (title of a book by Jim Tully).

shanty  (2)
"sea song," 1867, alternate spelling of chanty, from Fr. chantez, imper. of chanter "to sing" (see chant).
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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shanty

also spelled Chantey, or Chanty (from French chanter, "to sing"), English-language sailors' work song dating from the days of sailing ships, when manipulating heavy sails, by means of ropes, from positions on the deck constituted a large part of a sailor's work. The leader, or shantyman, chosen for his seamanship rather than his musical talent, stood at the leading position on the rope, while the sailors crouched along the rope behind him. The shantyman would intone a line of a song and the group respond in chorus, heaving on the rope at a given point in the melody. The shantyman was one of the crucial members of the ship's crew, and it was said that "a good shantyman was worth four extra hands on the rope." He selected a song of appropriate type and speed for the task, and, by improvising verses, he could spin the song out for as long as needed; shanty texts are thus far more fluid than published versions indicate.

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Encyclopedia Britannica, 2008. Encyclopedia Britannica Online.
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