cancan

See also: can-can and cán cân

English

Alternative forms

• can-can

Etymology

Borrowed from French cancan.

Pronunciation

• enPR: kăn′kăn′
• (Received Pronunciation, General American, Canada, Australia) IPA^(key): /ˈkænˌkæn/
• (Received Pronunciation, Scotland, India) IPA^(key): /ˈkanˌkan/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• (New Zealand) IPA^(key): /ˈkɛnˌkɛn/
• Rhymes: -ænkæn, -ankan
• Hyphenation: can‧can

Noun

cancan (plural cancans)

2. (dance) A high-kicking chorus line dance originating in France.
   • 1886 October – 1887 January, H[enry] Rider Haggard, She: A History of Adventure, London: Longmans, Green, and Co., published 1887, →OCLC:

     They formed up, in perfect silence, in two lines, facing each other between us and the fire, and then the dance - a sort of infernal and fiendish cancan - began.

   1. (music, by extension) "Galop Infernal", a movement from Jacques Offenbach's opera Orpheus in the Underworld, commonly associated with and called the cancan.
3. (motocross) A trick where one leg is brought over the seat, so that both legs are on one side.

Translations

dance

• Armenian: կանկան (hy) (kankan)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 康康舞 (kāngkāngwǔ)

• Czech: kankán m
• Finnish: cancan
• French: cancan (fr) m
• Georgian: კანკანი (ka) (ḳanḳani)
• German: Cancan (de) m
• Hungarian: kánkán (hu)
• Japanese: カンカン (ja) (kankan), フレンチカンカン (Furenchi kankan)
• Polish: kankan (pl) m
• Portuguese: cancã (pt) m
• Russian: канка́н (ru) m (kankán)
• Swedish: cancan (sv) c
• Turkish: kankan (tr)

Verb

cancan (third-person singular simple present cancans, present participle cancanning, simple past and past participle cancanned)

1. To dance the cancan.

Dutch

Etymology

Borrowed from French cancan.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /kɑnˈkɑn/, (after French) [kɑ̃ˈkɑ̃]

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɑn
• Hyphenation: can‧can

Noun

cancan m (plural cancans, no diminutive)

2. (dance) cancan (dance)

Finnish

Etymology

Borrowed from French cancan.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈkɑŋkɑn/, [ˈkɑ̝ŋkɑ̝n]
• IPA^(key): /ˈkɑnˌkɑn/, [ˈkɑ̝ŋˌkɑ̝n]
• IPA^(key): /ˈkænˌkæn/, [ˈk̟æŋˌk̟æn]
• Rhymes: -ɑŋkɑn
• Syllabification^(key): can‧can
• Hyphenation^(key): can‧can

Noun

cancan

2. (dance) cancan (dance)

Declension

Inflection of cancan (Kotus type 5/risti, no gradation)
nominative		cancan	cancanit
genitive		cancanin	cancanien
partitive		cancania	cancaneja
illative		cancaniin	cancaneihin
		singular	plural
nominative		cancan	cancanit
accusative	nom.	cancan	cancanit
	gen.	cancanin
genitive		cancanin	cancanien
partitive		cancania	cancaneja
inessive		cancanissa	cancaneissa
elative		cancanista	cancaneista
illative		cancaniin	cancaneihin
adessive		cancanilla	cancaneilla
ablative		cancanilta	cancaneilta
allative		cancanille	cancaneille
essive		cancanina	cancaneina
translative		cancaniksi	cancaneiksi
abessive		cancanitta	cancaneitta
instructive		—	cancanein
comitative		See the possessive forms below.

Possessive forms of cancan (Kotus type 5/risti, no gradation)

first-person singular possessor singular plural nominative cancanini cancanini accusative nom. cancanini cancanini gen. cancanini genitive cancanini cancanieni partitive cancaniani cancanejani inessive cancanissani cancaneissani elative cancanistani cancaneistani illative cancaniini cancaneihini adessive cancanillani cancaneillani ablative cancaniltani cancaneiltani allative cancanilleni cancaneilleni essive cancaninani cancaneinani translative cancanikseni cancaneikseni abessive cancanittani cancaneittani instructive — — comitative — cancaneineni second-person singular possessor singular plural nominative cancanisi cancanisi accusative nom. cancanisi cancanisi gen. cancanisi genitive cancanisi cancaniesi partitive cancaniasi cancanejasi inessive cancanissasi cancaneissasi elative cancanistasi cancaneistasi illative cancaniisi cancaneihisi adessive cancanillasi cancaneillasi ablative cancaniltasi cancaneiltasi allative cancanillesi cancaneillesi essive cancaninasi cancaneinasi translative cancaniksesi cancaneiksesi abessive cancanittasi cancaneittasi instructive — — comitative — cancaneinesi first-person plural possessor singular plural nominative cancanimme cancanimme accusative nom. cancanimme cancanimme gen. cancanimme genitive cancanimme cancaniemme partitive cancaniamme cancanejamme inessive cancanissamme cancaneissamme elative cancanistamme cancaneistamme illative cancaniimme cancaneihimme adessive cancanillamme cancaneillamme ablative cancaniltamme cancaneiltamme allative cancanillemme cancaneillemme essive cancaninamme cancaneinamme translative cancaniksemme cancaneiksemme abessive cancanittamme cancaneittamme instructive — — comitative — cancaneinemme second-person plural possessor singular plural nominative cancaninne cancaninne accusative nom. cancaninne cancaninne gen. cancaninne genitive cancaninne cancanienne partitive cancanianne cancanejanne inessive cancanissanne cancaneissanne elative cancanistanne cancaneistanne illative cancaniinne cancaneihinne adessive cancanillanne cancaneillanne ablative cancaniltanne cancaneiltanne allative cancanillenne cancaneillenne essive cancaninanne cancaneinanne translative cancaniksenne cancaneiksenne abessive cancanittanne cancaneittanne instructive — — comitative — cancaneinenne third-person possessor singular plural nominative cancaninsa cancaninsa accusative nom. cancaninsa cancaninsa gen. cancaninsa genitive cancaninsa cancaniensa partitive cancaniaan cancaniansa cancanejaan cancanejansa inessive cancanissaan cancanissansa cancaneissaan cancaneissansa elative cancanistaan cancanistansa cancaneistaan cancaneistansa illative cancaniinsa cancaneihinsa adessive cancanillaan cancanillansa cancaneillaan cancaneillansa ablative cancaniltaan cancaniltansa cancaneiltaan cancaneiltansa allative cancanilleen cancanillensa cancaneilleen cancaneillensa essive cancaninaan cancaninansa cancaneinaan cancaneinansa translative cancanikseen cancaniksensa cancaneikseen cancaneiksensa abessive cancanittaan cancanittansa cancaneittaan cancaneittansa instructive — — comitative — cancaneineen cancaneinensa

Further reading

• “cancan”, in Kielitoimiston sanakirja [Dictionary of Contemporary Finnish]‎^[1] (in Finnish) (online dictionary, continuously updated), Kotimaisten kielten keskuksen verkkojulkaisuja 35, Helsinki: Kotimaisten kielten tutkimuskeskus (Institute for the Languages of Finland), 2004–, retrieved 2 July 2023

French

Etymology

Supposedly, this word originates with a dispute at the Collège de France circa 1550, over whether to use a traditional French pronunciation of Latin or a reconstructed pronunciation of Latin. One of the points of most dispute was the pronunciation of qu, with the word quamquam exemplifying this: it was pronounced in reconstructed Latin as [ˈkʷam.kʷã(m)] but pronounced in French Latin as /kɑ̃.kɑ̃/ ("cancan"). After this debacle, a "cancan" came to be "any kind of scandalous performance".

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /kɑ̃.kɑ̃/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Audio (France (Somain)):

  (file)

• Hyphenation: can‧can

Noun

cancan m (plural cancans)

1. gossip (idle talk)
   • 1857, Gustave Flaubert, Madame Bovary […]‎^[2], Paris: Michel Lévy Frères:

     C'était madame Langlois, madame Caron, madame Dubreuil, madame Tuvache et, régulièrement, de deux à cinq heures, l'excellente madame Homais, qui n'avait jamais voulu croire, celle-là, à aucun des cancans que l'on débitait sur sa voisine.

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

3. (dance) cancan (dance)

Synonyms

• commérage
• qu'en-dira-t-on
• ragot

Derived terms

• cancaner
• cancaneuse

Further reading

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

Portuguese

Pronunciation

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /kɐ̃ˈkɐ̃/

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /kɐ̃ˈkan/

• Hyphenation: can‧can

Noun

cancan m (invariable)

1. alternative form of cancã

Romanian

Etymology

Borrowed from French cancan.

Noun

cancan n (plural cancanuri)

1. gossip (idle talk)
3. (dance) cancan (dance)

Declension

	singular		plural
	indefinite	definite	indefinite	definite
nominative-accusative	cancan	cancanul	cancanuri	cancanurile
genitive-dative	cancan	cancanului	cancanuri	cancanurilor
vocative	cancanule		cancanurilor

Swedish

Etymology

Borrowed from French cancan.

Noun

cancan c

2. (dance) cancan (dance)

Declension

Declension of cancan

		nominative	genitive
singular	indefinite	cancan	cancans
	definite	cancanen	cancanens
plural	indefinite	—	—
	definite	—	—