cant

cant

synonyms, antonyms, definitions, examples & translations of cant in English

English Online Dictionary. What means cant‎? What does cant mean?

English

Pronunciation

  • enPR: kănt, IPA(key): /kænt/
  • Rhymes: -ænt
  • Homophone: can't (US), Homophone: Kant (in anglicized pronunciation)

Etymology 1

From Latin cantō probably via Old Northern French canter (sing, tell). Doublet of chant.

Noun

cant (usually uncountable, plural cants)

  1. (countable) An argot, the jargon of a particular class or subgroup.
    Synonyms: argot, jargon, slang
    • 1836, Three discourses preached before the Congregational Society in Watertown, page 65
  2. (countable, uncountable) A private or secret language used by a religious sect, gang, or other group.
    Synonyms: argot, jargon, slang
  3. A language spoken by some Irish Travellers; Shelta.
  4. (uncountable, derogatory) Empty, hypocritical talk.
  5. (uncountable) Whining speech, such as that used by beggars.
  6. (countable, heraldry) A blazon of a coat of arms that makes a pun upon the name (or, less often, some attribute or function) of the bearer, canting arms.
  7. (obsolete) A call for bidders at a public fair; an auction.
Related terms
Translations

Verb

cant (third-person singular simple present cants, present participle canting, simple past and past participle canted)

  1. (intransitive) To speak with the jargon of a class or subgroup.
  2. (intransitive) To speak in set phrases.
  3. (intransitive) To talk, beg, or preach in a singsong or whining fashion, especially in a false or empty manner.
  4. (intransitive, heraldry) Of a blazon, to make a pun that references the bearer of a coat of arms.
  5. (obsolete) To sell by auction, or bid at an auction.

See also

  • jargon
  • sociolect

Etymology 2

From Middle English cant (edge, brink), from Middle Dutch cant (point, side, edge) (Modern Dutch kant (side, edge)), ultimately of Celtic or Latin origin. Related to Medieval Latin cantus (corner, side), from Latin canthus.

Noun

cant (plural cants)

  1. (obsolete) Side, edge, corner, niche.
  2. Slope, the angle at which something is set.
  3. A corner (of a building).
    Synonym: corner
  4. An outer or external angle.
  5. An inclination from a horizontal or vertical line; a slope or bevel; a tilt.
    Synonyms: bevel, slope, tilt
  6. A movement or throw that overturns something.
    • 1830, The Edinburgh Encyclopedia, volume 3, page 621
      It is not only of great service in keeping the boat in her due position on the sea, but also in creating a tendency immediately to recover from any sudden cant, or lurch, from a heavy wave; and it is besides beneficial in diminishing the violence of beating against the sides of the vessel which she may go to relieve.
  7. A sudden thrust, push, kick, or other impulse, producing a bias or change of direction; also, the bias or turn so given.
  8. (coopering) A segment forming a side piece in the head of a cask.
  9. A segment of the rim of a wooden cogwheel.
  10. (nautical) A piece of wood laid upon the deck of a vessel to support the bulkheads.
  11. (lumbering) An unfinished log after preliminary cutting.
Derived terms
Related terms
  • cantilever
Translations

Verb

cant (third-person singular simple present cants, present participle canting, simple past and past participle canted)

  1. (transitive) To set (something) at an angle.
  2. (transitive) To give a sudden turn or new direction to.
    to cant round a stick of timber; to cant a football
  3. (transitive) To bevel an edge or corner.
  4. (transitive) To overturn so that the contents are emptied.
Derived terms
  • recant (Etymology 2)
Translations

Etymology 3

Unknown, but compare Provençal cantel (corner, piece) or Old Northern French cantel (piece broken off). The verb is attested from the 15th century, and the noun from the 16th. See cantle, from which cant is possibly back-formed as if it contained the suffix -le.

Verb

cant (third-person singular simple present cants, present participle canting, simple past and past participle canted)

  1. (transitive, obsolete) To divide or parcel out.

Noun

cant (plural cants)

  1. (regional, forestry) A parcel, a division.

Etymology 4

From Middle English cant, kaunt, presumably from Middle Low German *kant, perhaps a slang word related to kant (edge, rim), from Medieval Latin canthus. Attested from the 13th or 14th century.

Alternative forms

  • kant

Adjective

cant (not comparable)

  1. (Britain, dialect) Lively, lusty.

References

Further reading

  • Cant (language) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

Anagrams

  • NCTA, T-Can

Catalan

Etymology

Inherited from Latin cantus. Compare Occitan cant.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): (Central) [ˈkan]
  • IPA(key): (Balearic, Valencian) [ˈkant]

Noun

cant m (plural cants)

  1. song
    Synonym: cançó

Related terms

  • cantar

References

  • “cant” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.

Italian

Noun

cant m (apocopated)

  1. Apocopic form of canto

Middle English

Etymology

Possibly from Middle Low German *kant, perhaps a slang word related to kant (edge, rim), from Medieval Latin canthus.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /kant/

Adjective

cant

  1. (Northern, Scotland) bold, lively, cant
    • c. 1340, Cursor Mundi, Cotton Vespasian A iii, lines 8943-46:

Descendants

  • English: cant (dialectal)
  • Scots: cant

Romanian

Etymology

Borrowed from German Kante.

Noun

cant n (plural canturi)

  1. edge

Declension

Scots

Alternative forms

  • kant

Etymology

From Middle English cant (bold, lively).

Adjective

cant

  1. (Middle Scots) lively

Welsh

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /kant/
  • Rhymes: -ant

Etymology 1

From Middle Welsh and Old Welsh cant, from Proto-Brythonic *kant, from Proto-Celtic *kantom, from Proto-Indo-European *ḱm̥tóm.

Numeral

cant

  1. (cardinal number) one hundred
Usage notes
  • Preceding a noun, cant takes the form can.
  • Cardinals following cant employ a (and) as a connecting word, which stands in contrast to ordinals after canfed, which use wedi'r (past the, after the), e.g. cant ac un (one hundred and one) but cyntaf wedi'r cant (hundred-and-first).
Derived terms
  • hanner cant (fifty)
  • cant a hanner (one hundred and fifty)
  • dau gant (two hundred)
  • tri chant (three hundred)
  • pum cant (five hundred)

Noun

cant m (plural cannoedd)

  1. hundred
  2. century

Etymology 2

Middle Welsh, from Proto-Celtic *kantos (corner, rim). Related to Breton kant (circle), Old Irish cétad (round seat).

Noun

cant m (plural cantau)

  1. hoop
  2. rim

Mutation

References

  • Definition from the BBC
  • Hoops, Johannes (1973): Reallexikon der germanischen Altertumskunde, Volume 16, p. 445

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This article based on an article on Wiktionary. The list of authors can be seen in the page history there. The original work has been modified. This article is distributed under the terms of this license.