cant

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See also can't, and cânt

Contents

English [edit]

WOTD – 9 May 2007    
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Pronunciation [edit]

Etymology 1 [edit]

From Latin cantō probably via Old Northern French canter (“sing, tell”), cognate with chant.

Noun [edit]

cant (usually uncountable; plural cants)

  1. (countable) An argot, the jargon of a particular class or subgroup.
    He had the look of a prince, but the cant of a fishmonger.
    • 1836, Three discourses preached before the Congregational Society in Watertown, page 65
      I am aware that the phrase free inquiry has become too much a cant phrase soiled by the handling of the ignorant and the reckless by those who fall into the mistake of supposing that religion has its root in the understanding and by those who can see just far enough to doubt and no further.
  2. (countable, uncountable) A private or secret language used by a religious sect, gang, or other group.
  3. Shelta.
  4. (uncountable, pejorative) Empty, hypocritical talk.
    People claim to care about the poor of Africa, but it is largely cant.
  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 of the bearer, canting arms.
  7. (obsolete) A call for bidders at a public fair; an auction.
    • Jonathan Swift
      To sell their leases by cant.
Synonyms [edit]
Related terms [edit]
Translations [edit]
jargon of a particular class or subgroup
secret language
hypocritical talk
whining speech, such as that used by beggars.
heraldry: blazon that makes a pun, canting arms

Verb [edit]

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 preach in a singsong 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.
    (Can we find and add a quotation of Jonathan Swift to this entry?)

Part or all of this entry has been imported from the 1913 edition of Webster’s Dictionary, which is now free of copyright and hence in the public domain. The imported definitions may be significantly out of date, and any more recent senses may be completely missing.

Etymology 2 [edit]

Noun [edit]

cant (plural cants)

  1. (obsolete) corner, niche
  2. slope, the angle at which something is set.
  3. 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.
Related terms [edit]
Translations [edit]
angle at which something is set
movement that overturns

Verb [edit]

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 bevel an edge or corner.
  3. (transitive) To overturn so that the contents are emptied.
Translations [edit]
set something at an angle
to bevel an edge or corner

Etymology 3 [edit]

EB1911 - Volume 01 - Page 001 - 1.svg This entry lacks etymological information. If you are familiar with the origin of this term, please add it to the page as described here.

Verb [edit]

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

  1. (transitive) To divide or parcel out.

Etymology 4 [edit]

From Middle English, presumably from Middle Low German *kant

Alternative forms [edit]

Adjective [edit]

cant (not comparable)

  1. (UK, dialect) lively, lusty.

Anagrams [edit]

Catalan [edit]

Etymology [edit]

From Latin cantus.

Noun [edit]

cant m (plural cants)

  1. song

Italian [edit]

Noun [edit]

cant m (invariable)

  1. apocopic form of canto

Welsh [edit]

Etymology 1 [edit]

From Proto-Celtic *kantom, from Proto-Indo-European *ḱm̥tóm. Compare Breton kant.

Noun [edit]

cant m (plural cannoedd) 

  1. hundred
  2. century

Etymology 2 [edit]

Noun [edit]

cant m (plural cantau) 

  1. hoop
  2. rim
Mutation [edit]
Welsh mutation
radical soft nasal aspirate
cant gant nghant chant
Related terms [edit]

References [edit]

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