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chant

Pronunciation: /t͡ʃɑːnt/

The English word “chant” has 9 meanings listed here.

verb

  1. To sing, especially without instruments, and as applied to monophonic and pre-modern music.
  2. To sing or intone sacred text.
  3. To utter or repeat in a strongly rhythmical manner, especially as a group.
  4. To sell horses fraudulently, exaggerating their merits.

noun

  1. Type of singing done generally without instruments and harmony.
  2. A short and simple melody to which unmetrical psalms, etc., are sung or recited.
  3. A harmonized melody used in Anglican chant, usually split into two two-bar phrases, to which the words of a psalm are sung by a choir; typically, each musical phrase corresponds to the text of half of a verse.
  4. Twang; manner of speaking; a canting tone.
  5. A repetitive song, typically an incantation or part of a ritual.

Etymology

From Middle English chaunten, from Old French chanter, from Latin cantāre (“sing”). Doublet of cant.

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Definitions are from Wiktionary, extracted by Kaikki.org, and are available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.