singer

See also: Singer

English

Etymology 1

From Middle English synger, syngere, singere, singare, equivalent to sing +‎ -er. Cognate with Scots singar, Saterland Frisian Sjunger, West Frisian sjonger, German Low German Singer. Compare also Old English sangere, Dutch zanger, German Low German Sänger, German Sänger (“singer”), Danish sanger, Swedish sångare, Icelandic söngvari.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈsɪŋə/

• Audio (UK)

  (file)

• (General American) enPR: sĭng′ər IPA^(key): /ˈsɪŋɚ/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɪŋə(ɹ)

Noun

singer (plural singers)

1. A person who sings, often professionally.
2. (square dance) dance figure with a fixed structure, sung by a caller, or a piece of music with that structure.

Synonyms

• (person who sings): cantor, chanter

Hyponyms

• (person who sings):
  • (female): cantrix (archaic), chanteuse, chantress, singeress (obsolete, rare), songstress
  • (male): songster

Derived terms

• carol singer
• lounge singer
• opera singer
• singeress
• singer-songwriter
• square dance singer

 

Related terms

• mastersinger
• meistersinger
• songer
• songster
• songstress

 

Descendants

• → Japanese: シンガー (shingā)

Translations

person who sings (male or generic term)

• Acehnese: please add this translation if you can
• Afrikaans: sanger
• Albanian: këngëtar (sq) m
• Amharic: ዘፋኝ (zäfañ)
• Arabic: مُطْرِب m (muṭrib), مُغَنٍّ m (muḡannin) (indefinite), الْمُغَنِّي m (al-muḡannī) (definite)

  Egyptian Arabic: مغني m (moḡanni)

  South Levantine Arabic: مغني m (muḡanni)

• Aramaic:

  Classical Syriac: ܙܡܪܐ m (zammārā)

• Armenian: երգիչ (hy) (ergičʻ)
• Aromanian: cãntãtor m
• Assamese: গায়ক (gayok)
• Asturian: cantante m, cantor m
• Azerbaijani: müğənni (az), xanəndə
• Bashkir: йырсы (yırsı); йырау (yıraw) (traditional), йыраусы (yırawsı)
• Basque: abeslari (eu), kantari
• Belarusian: спява́к m (spjavák)
• Bengali: গায়ক (bn) (gaẏok)
• Berber:

  Tashelhit: amarir m

• Breton: kaner (br) m
• Bulgarian: певе́ц m (pevéc)
• Burmese: တေးသံရှင် (my) (te:samhrang), အဆိုတော် (my) (a.hcuitau)
• Catalan: cantant (ca) m, cantor (ca) m, cantaire (ca) m
• Chinese:

  Cantonese: 歌手 (go¹ sau²)

  Dungan: чонҗязы (čonži͡azɨ), чонҗяр (čonži͡ar)

  Eastern Min: 歌手 (gŏ̤-chiū)

  Hakka: 歌手 (kô-sú)

  Hokkien: 歌手 (koa-chhiú / ko-chhiú)

  Mandarin: 歌手 (zh) (gēshǒu)

  Wu: 歌手 (¹ku-seu)

• Corsican: cantadore m or f, cantante m
• Czech: zpěvák (cs) m
• Danish: sanger (da) c
• Dhivehi: please add this translation if you can
• Dutch: zanger (nl) m
• Dzongkha: སྐད་འཐེན་མི (skad 'then mi)
• Esperanto: kantanto, kantisto (professional)
• Estonian: laulja (et), laulik
• Faroese: sangari m
• Finnish: laulaja (fi)
• French: chanteur (fr) m
• Friulian: cjantautôr m, cjantôr m, cjantant
• Galician: cantante (gl) m, cantor m
• Georgian: მომღერალი (momɣerali)
• German: Sänger (de) m, Sängerchen n (diminutive), Sängerlein n (diminutive)
• Gothic: 𐌻𐌹𐌿𐌸𐌰𐍂𐌴𐌹𐍃 m (liuþareis)
• Greek: τραγουδιστής (el) m (tragoudistís)

  Ancient: ἀοιδός (aoidós)

• Greenlandic: erinarsortartoq
• Gujarati: ગાયક (gāyak)
• Hebrew: זמר \ זַמָּר (he) m (zamár)
• Hindi: गायक (hi) m (gāyak)
• Hungarian: énekes (hu) m
• Icelandic: söngvari (is) m
• Indonesian: penyanyi (id)
• Ingrian: laulaja, peutsa
• Irish: amhránaí m, fonnadóir m
• Italian: cantante (it) m
• Japanese: 歌手 (ja) (かしゅ, kashu)
• Javanese: please add this translation if you can
• Kalmyk: дууч (duuç)
• Kannada: ಗಾಯಕ (kn) (gāyaka)
• Kazakh: әнші (änşı)
• Khakas: ырӌы (ırcı), сарынӌы (sarıncı)
• Khmer: អ្នកចំរៀង (nĕək cɑmriəng), អ្នកច្រៀង (nĕək criəng), គីតិកា (kiitekaa) (female)
• Korean: 가수(歌手) (ko) (gasu)
• Kurdish:

  Central Kurdish: گۆرانی بێژ (goranî bêj)

  Northern Kurdish: stranbêj (ku), kilambêj (ku), goranîbêj (ku), ahengbêj (ku)

• Kyrgyz: ырчы (ky) (ırcı), обончу (oboncu)
• Ladin: please add this translation if you can
• Lao: ນັກຮ້ອງ (nak hǭng)
• Latin: cantor (la) m
• Latvian: dziedātājs m
• Ligurian: cantànte m
• Lithuanian: dainininkas m
• Lombard: cantant (lmo) m
• Low German:

  German Low German: Singer m

• Lü: ᦋᦱᧂᧈᦣᦸᧂᧉ (tsaang¹hoang²)
• Luganda: omuyimbi
• Macedonian: пејач m (pejač)
• Malay: penyanyi (ms), biduan, vokalis, tukang nyanyi, pelagu
• Malayalam: ഗായകൻ (ml) (gāyakaṉ)
• Maltese: kantant m
• Maori: kaiwaiata
• Marathi: गायक m (gāyak)
• Middle English: synger
• Mon: please add this translation if you can
• Mongolian:

  Cyrillic: дуучин (mn) (duučin)

  Mongolian: ᠳᠠᠭᠤᠴᠢᠨ (daɣučin)

• Nahuatl: cuicani (nah)
• Norman: chanteux m
• Northern Sami: please add this translation if you can
• Northern Thai: please add this translation if you can
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: sanger (no) m

  Nynorsk: songar m

• Occitan: cantaire (oc) m

  Old Occitan: chantador m

• Odia: ଗାୟକ (or) (gayôkô)
• Old English: sangere m
• Pashto: خواننده m or f (xānenda), سندربول m (sadǝrbol), آوازخوان m (āwāzxwān)
• Persian:

  Classical Persian: خْوَانَنْدَه (fa) (xwānanda)

  Dari: خوَانَنْدَه (fa) (xānanda)

  Iranian Persian: خوانَنْدِه (fa) (xânande)

• Piedmontese: cantant m
• Polish: piosenkarz (pl) m, śpiewak (pl) m
• Portuguese: cantor (pt) m
• Rakhine: please add this translation if you can
• Rohingya: gain
• Romagnol: cantânt m
• Romanian: cântăreț (ro) m
• Romansch: chantadur m
• Russian: певе́ц (ru) m (pevéc), вокали́ст (ru) m (vokalíst)
• Sanskrit: गायक (sa) m (gāyaka)
• Scots: sanger, sangster
• Scottish Gaelic: seinneadair, òranaiche m, neach-seinn m
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: пѐва̄ч m, пјѐва̄ч m

  Roman: pèvāč (sh) m, pjèvāč m

• Shan: ၵူၼ်းႁဵတ်းၵႂၢမ်း (kúun háet kwáam)
• Silesian: śpjywok m
• Slovak: spevák m
• Slovene: pevec (sl) m
• Sorbian:

  Lower Sorbian: spiwaŕ m

  Upper Sorbian: spěwar m

• Spanish: cantante (es) m, cantor (es) m
• Sranan Tongo: singiman
• Swedish: sångare (sv) c
• Sylheti: please add this translation if you can
• Tachawit: acennay (shy)
• Tai Dam: please add this translation if you can
• Tai Nüa: please add this translation if you can
• Tajik: сароянда (tg) (saroyanda), сурудхон (surudxon), ҳофиз (hofiz), муғаннӣ (muġannī), хонанда (tg) (xonanda)
• Tamil: பாடகர் (ta) (pāṭakar)
• Taos: yòʼóna
• Tatar: җырчы (tt) (cırçı)
• Tausug: please add this translation if you can
• Telugu: పాటగాడు (pāṭagāḍu)
• Thai: นักร้อง (th) (nák-rɔ́ɔng)
• Tibetan: གླུ་བ (glu ba), གཞས་མ (gzhas ma)
• Tigrinya: ደራፊ (därafi)
• Tofa: ыршы
• Turkish: şarkıcı (tr), şantör (tr) m
• Turkmen: aýdymçi, bagşy (tk)
• Tuvan: ыраажы (ıraajı)
• Ukrainian: співа́к m (spivák)
• Urdu: گُلُو کار m (gulū kār)
• Uyghur: ناخشىچى (ug) (naxshichi)
• Uzbek: ashulachi (uz), qoʻshiqchi (uz), hofiz (uz)
• Vietnamese: ca sĩ (vi)
• Volapük: kanitan (vo), hikanitan (male)
• Walloon: tchanteu (wa) m
• Welsh: canwr m
• West Frisian: sjonger c
• Yakan: please add this translation if you can
• Yakut: ырыаһыт (ırıahıt)
• Yiddish: זינגער m (zinger)
• Zhuang: please add this translation if you can

female person who sings

• Albanian: këngëtare (sq) f
• Arabic: مُغَنِّيَة f (muḡanniya)

  Egyptian Arabic: مغنية f (moḡaneya)

• Aramaic:

  Classical Syriac: ܙܡܪܬܐ f (zammārtā)

• Armenian: երգչուհի (hy) (ergčʻuhi)
• Asturian: cantante f
• Belarusian: спява́чка f (spjaváčka)
• Breton: kanerez (br) f
• Bulgarian: певи́ца f (pevíca)
• Catalan: cantant (ca) f
• Corsican: cantrice f
• Czech: zpěvačka (cs) f
• Danish: sangerinde (da) c
• Dutch: zangeres (nl) f
• Esperanto: kantantino, kantistino (professional)
• Estonian: lauljanna, lauljatar
• Faroese: sangarinna f
• French: chanteuse (fr) f
• Galician: cantante (gl) f
• German: Sängerin (de) f
• Greek: τραγουδίστρια (el) f (tragoudístria)
• Hebrew: זמרת \ זַמֶּרֶת f (zaméret)
• Hindi: गायिका f (gāyikā)
• Hungarian: énekesnő (hu) f
• Icelandic: söngkona (is) f
• Italian: cantante (it) f
• Khmer: គីតិកា (kiitekaa)
• Ladin: please add this translation if you can
• Latin: cantrīx (la) f
• Latvian: dziedātāja f
• Ligurian: cantànte f
• Lithuanian: dainininkė f
• Lombard: please add this translation if you can
• Low German:

  German Low German: Singerin f, Singersch f, Singersche f

• Macedonian: пејачка f (pejačka)
• Malay: biduanita
• Malayalam: ഗായിക (ml) (gāyika)
• Marathi: गायिका f (gāyikā)
• Norman: chant'rêsse f
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: sangerinne (no) f

  Nynorsk: songarinne f

• Occitan: cantaira f
• Old English: sangestre f
• Piedmontese: cantanta f
• Polish: piosenkarka (pl) f, śpiewaczka (pl) f
• Portuguese: cantora (pt) f
• Romagnol: cantânta f
• Romanian: cântăreață (ro) f
• Romansch: chantadura f
• Russian: певи́ца (ru) f (pevíca), вокали́стка (ru) f (vokalístka)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: пева̀чица f, пјева̀чица f

  Roman: pevàčica (sh) f, pjevàčica (sh) f

• Slovak: speváčka f
• Slovene: pevka f
• Spanish: cantante (es) f, cantora f
• Swedish: sångerska (sv) c
• Telugu: పాటగత్తె (pāṭagatte)
• Tibetan: གླུ་མ (glu ma), གཞས་མ (gzhas ma)
• Turkish: şantöz (tr) f
• Ukrainian: співа́чка f (spiváčka)
• Urdu: گُلُو کارَہ f (gulū kāra)
• Volapük: jikanitan
• Walloon: tchanteuse (wa) f
• Welsh: cantores f
• West Frisian: sjongster c
• Yiddish: זינגערין f (zingerin)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

• Ido: ^{(please verify)} kantisto (io)
• Occitan: ^{(please verify)} cantaire (oc)
• Romanian: ^{(please verify)} cântăreață (ro) f, ^{(please verify)} cântăreț (ro) m

Etymology 2

From singe +‎ -er.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈsɪnd͡ʒə(ɹ)/
• Rhymes: -ɪndʒə(ɹ)

Noun

singer (plural singers)

1. A person who, or device which, singes.
2. A machine for singeing cloth.

Translations

person or device that singes

• Italian: gazatrice f
• Welsh: deifiwr m

Anagrams

• Greins, Negris, nigres, re-nigs, re-sign, reigns, renigs, resign, resing, ringes, signer

French

Etymology

In at least the ape sense, from singe (“monkey”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /sɛ̃.ʒe/

• Audio

  (file)

• Audio (Switzerland)

  (file)

Verb

singer

1. to ape
   • 2019, Alain Damasio, chapter 3, in Les furtifs [The Stealthies], La Volte, →ISBN:

     […] nous privilégions tous les deux les « interfaces humaines », comme ils disent, même quand elles singent, comme ici, une mauvaise IA.

     […] we both favour "human interfaces", as they say, even when they mimic, as here, a bad AI.

2. to sprinkle with flour

Conjugation

This is a regular -er verb, but the stem is written singe- before endings that begin with -a- or -o- (to indicate that the -g- is a "soft" /ʒ/ and not a "hard" /ɡ/). This spelling-change occurs in all verbs in -ger, such as neiger and manger.

Conjugation of singer (see also Appendix:French verbs)

infinitive	simple	singer
	compound	avoir + past participle
present participle or gerund1	simple	singeant /sɛ̃.ʒɑ̃/
	compound	ayant + past participle
past participle		singé /sɛ̃.ʒe/
		singular			plural
		first	second	third	first	second	third
indicative		je (j’)	tu	il, elle, on	nous	vous	ils, elles
(simple tenses)	present	singe /sɛ̃ʒ/	singes /sɛ̃ʒ/	singe /sɛ̃ʒ/	singeons /sɛ̃.ʒɔ̃/	singez /sɛ̃.ʒe/	singent /sɛ̃ʒ/
	imperfect	singeais /sɛ̃.ʒɛ/	singeais /sɛ̃.ʒɛ/	singeait /sɛ̃.ʒɛ/	singions /sɛ̃.ʒjɔ̃/	singiez /sɛ̃.ʒje/	singeaient /sɛ̃.ʒɛ/
	past historic2	singeai /sɛ̃.ʒe/	singeas /sɛ̃.ʒa/	singea /sɛ̃.ʒa/	singeâmes /sɛ̃.ʒam/	singeâtes /sɛ̃.ʒat/	singèrent /sɛ̃.ʒɛʁ/
	future	singerai /sɛ̃ʒ.ʁe/	singeras /sɛ̃ʒ.ʁa/	singera /sɛ̃ʒ.ʁa/	singerons /sɛ̃ʒ.ʁɔ̃/	singerez /sɛ̃ʒ.ʁe/	singeront /sɛ̃ʒ.ʁɔ̃/
	conditional	singerais /sɛ̃ʒ.ʁɛ/	singerais /sɛ̃ʒ.ʁɛ/	singerait /sɛ̃ʒ.ʁɛ/	singerions /sɛ̃.ʒə.ʁjɔ̃/	singeriez /sɛ̃.ʒə.ʁje/	singeraient /sɛ̃ʒ.ʁɛ/
(compound tenses)	present perfect	present indicative of avoir + past participle
	pluperfect	imperfect indicative of avoir + past participle
	past anterior2	past historic of avoir + past participle
	future perfect	future of avoir + past participle
	conditional perfect	conditional of avoir + past participle
subjunctive		que je (j’)	que tu	qu’il, qu’elle	que nous	que vous	qu’ils, qu’elles
(simple tenses)	present	singe /sɛ̃ʒ/	singes /sɛ̃ʒ/	singe /sɛ̃ʒ/	singions /sɛ̃.ʒjɔ̃/	singiez /sɛ̃.ʒje/	singent /sɛ̃ʒ/
	imperfect2	singeasse /sɛ̃.ʒas/	singeasses /sɛ̃.ʒas/	singeât /sɛ̃.ʒa/	singeassions /sɛ̃.ʒa.sjɔ̃/	singeassiez /sɛ̃.ʒa.sje/	singeassent /sɛ̃.ʒas/
(compound tenses)	past	present subjunctive of avoir + past participle
	pluperfect2	imperfect subjunctive of avoir + past participle
imperative		–	tu	–	nous	vous	–
simple		—	singe /sɛ̃ʒ/	—	singeons /sɛ̃.ʒɔ̃/	singez /sɛ̃.ʒe/	—
compound		—	simple imperative of avoir + past participle	—	simple imperative of avoir + past participle	simple imperative of avoir + past participle	—
1 The French gerund is usable only with the preposition en.
2 In less formal writing or speech, these tenses may be found to have been replaced in the following way: past historic → present perfect past anterior → pluperfect imperfect subjunctive → present subjunctive pluperfect subjunctive → past subjunctive (Christopher Kendris [1995], Master the Basics: French, pp. 77, 78, 79, 81).

Further reading

• “singer”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

Anagrams

• signer