chanter

English

Bagpipe chanter

Alternative forms

• chantor

Etymology

From Middle English chauntour, from Old French chanteor, from Latin cantor; equivalent to chant +‎ -er. Compare French chanteur. Doublet of cantor.

Pronunciation

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

• Audio (Southern England)

  (file)

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈt͡ʃæntɚ/
• Rhymes: -æntə(ɹ), -ɑːntə(ɹ)

Noun

chanter (plural chanters)

1. One who chants or sings.
2. A priest who sings in a chantry.
3. The pipe of a bagpipe on which the melody is played.
   • 1860s, anon, Lanigan's Ball (song)

     the piper was near being strangled / They squeezed up his pipes, bellows, chanters and all.

4. The hedge sparrow.
5. (archaic) One who sells horses fraudulently, exaggerating their merits.

Translations

one who chants or sings

• Bulgarian: псалт m (psalt)
• Greek: ψάλτης (el) m (psáltis)
• Hungarian: karénekes (hu), kántor (hu)
• Irish: cantaire m
• Middle English: chauntour
• Portuguese: cantor (pt) m

a priest who sings in a chantry

• Portuguese: chantre (pt) m

the pipe of a bagpipe

• Bulgarian: свирка (bg) f (svirka)
• Finnish: melodiapilli
• French: chalumeau (fr) m
• German: Melodiepfeife f
• Hungarian: szólamsíp
• Italian: canna della melodia f
• Portuguese: ponteiro (pt) m
• Scottish Gaelic: feadan m
• Spanish: caramillo (es) m

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

• French: ^{(please verify)} scandeur m (1), ^{(please verify)} scandeuse f (1)

Anagrams

• tranche

French

Etymology

Inherited from Middle French chanter, from Old French chanter, from Latin cantāre.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ʃɑ̃.te/

• audio

  (file)

Verb

chanter

1. (singing) to sing
2. to crow

Conjugation

Conjugation of chanter (see also Appendix:French verbs)

infinitive	simple	chanter
	compound	avoir + past participle
present participle or gerund1	simple	chantant /ʃɑ̃.tɑ̃/
	compound	ayant + past participle
past participle		chanté /ʃɑ̃.te/
		singular			plural
		first	second	third	first	second	third
indicative		je (j’)	tu	il, elle, on	nous	vous	ils, elles
(simple tenses)	present	chante /ʃɑ̃t/	chantes /ʃɑ̃t/	chante /ʃɑ̃t/	chantons /ʃɑ̃.tɔ̃/	chantez /ʃɑ̃.te/	chantent /ʃɑ̃t/
	imperfect	chantais /ʃɑ̃.tɛ/	chantais /ʃɑ̃.tɛ/	chantait /ʃɑ̃.tɛ/	chantions /ʃɑ̃.tjɔ̃/	chantiez /ʃɑ̃.tje/	chantaient /ʃɑ̃.tɛ/
	past historic2	chantai /ʃɑ̃.te/	chantas /ʃɑ̃.ta/	chanta /ʃɑ̃.ta/	chantâmes /ʃɑ̃.tam/	chantâtes /ʃɑ̃.tat/	chantèrent /ʃɑ̃.tɛʁ/
	future	chanterai /ʃɑ̃.tʁe/	chanteras /ʃɑ̃.tʁa/	chantera /ʃɑ̃.tʁa/	chanterons /ʃɑ̃.tʁɔ̃/	chanterez /ʃɑ̃.tʁe/	chanteront /ʃɑ̃.tʁɔ̃/
	conditional	chanterais /ʃɑ̃.tʁɛ/	chanterais /ʃɑ̃.tʁɛ/	chanterait /ʃɑ̃.tʁɛ/	chanterions /ʃɑ̃.tə.ʁjɔ̃/	chanteriez /ʃɑ̃.tə.ʁje/	chanteraient /ʃɑ̃.tʁɛ/
(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	chante /ʃɑ̃t/	chantes /ʃɑ̃t/	chante /ʃɑ̃t/	chantions /ʃɑ̃.tjɔ̃/	chantiez /ʃɑ̃.tje/	chantent /ʃɑ̃t/
	imperfect2	chantasse /ʃɑ̃.tas/	chantasses /ʃɑ̃.tas/	chantât /ʃɑ̃.ta/	chantassions /ʃɑ̃.ta.sjɔ̃/	chantassiez /ʃɑ̃.ta.sje/	chantassent /ʃɑ̃.tas/
(compound tenses)	past	present subjunctive of avoir + past participle
	pluperfect2	imperfect subjunctive of avoir + past participle
imperative		–	tu	–	nous	vous	–
simple		—	chante /ʃɑ̃t/	—	chantons /ʃɑ̃.tɔ̃/	chantez /ʃɑ̃.te/	—
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).

Derived terms

• chanter comme une casserole
• chanter comme une seringue
• faire chanter

Related terms

• chanson
• chant
• chanteur
• chantonner
• chantre
• faire chanter
• chantage
• chantable

Further reading

• “chanter”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.
• Comment-conjuguer.fr - online conjugation of "chanter"

Anagrams

• chantre, tranche, tranché

Middle French

Etymology

From Old French chanter.

Verb

chanter

1. to sing

Conjugation

• Middle French conjugation varies from one text to another. Hence, the following conjugation should be considered as typical, not as exhaustive.

Conjugation of chanter

infinitive	simple	chanter
	compound	avoir + past participle
present participle1 or gerund2	simple	chantant
	compound	present participle or gerund of avoir + past participle
past participle		chanté
		singular			plural
		first	second	third	first	second	third
indicative		ie (i’)	tu	il, elle	nous	vous	ilz, elles
(simple tenses)	present	chante	chantes	chante	chantons	chantez	chantent
	imperfect	chantois, chantoys	chantois, chantoys	chantoit, chantoyt	chantions, chantyons	chantiez, chantyez	chantoient, chantoyent
	past historic	chanta	chantas	chanta	chantasmes	chantastes	chanterent
	future	chanterai, chanteray	chanteras	chantera	chanterons	chanterez	chanteront
	conditional	chanterois, chanteroys	chanterois, chanteroys	chanteroit, chanteroyt	chanterions, chanteryons	chanteriez, chanteryez	chanteroient, chanteroyent
(compound tenses)	present perfect	present indicative of avoir + past participle
	pluperfect	imperfect indicative of avoir + past participle
	past anterior	past historic of avoir + past participle
	future perfect	future of avoir + past participle
	conditional perfect	conditional of avoir + past participle
subjunctive		que ie (i’)	que tu	qu’il, qu’elle	que nous	que vous	qu’ilz, qu’elles
(simple tenses)	present	chante	chantes	chante	chantons	chantez	chantent
	imperfect	chantasse	chantasses	chantast	chantassions	chantassiez	chantassent
(compound tenses)	past	present subjunctive of avoir + past participle
	pluperfect	imperfect subjunctive of avoir + past participle
imperative		–	tu	–	nous	vous	–
simple		—	chante	—	chantons	chantez	—
compound		—	simple imperative of avoir + past participle	—	simple imperative of avoir + past participle	simple imperative of avoir + past participle	—
1 The present participle was variable in gender and number until the 17th century (Anne Sancier-Château [1995], Une esthétique nouvelle: Honoré d'Urfé, correcteur de l'Astrée, p. 179). The French Academy would eventually declare it not to be declined in 1679.
2 The gerund was held to be invariable by grammarians of the early 17th century, and was usable with preposition en, as in Modern French, although the preposition was not mandatory (Anne Sancier-Château [1995], op. cit., p. 180).

Descendants

• French: chanter

Norman

Etymology

Borrowed from French chanter, from Old French chanter, from Latin cantō, cantare (“sing”, verb).

Pronunciation

• Audio (Jersey)

  (file)

Verb

chanter (gerund chant'tie)

1. (Jersey) to sing
   • 1903, Edgar MacCulloch, “Proverbs, Weather Sayings, etc.”, in Guernsey Folk Lore‎^[1], page 524:

     I' chànte coume ùn orateur.

     He sings like an orator.

Old French

Alternative forms

• canter (Normandy, Picardy, Anglo-Norman)

Etymology

From Latin cantāre. First known attestation ca. 980 as canter.

Pronunciation

• (classical) IPA^(key): /t͡ʃanˈteːɾ/, (northern) /kan-/

Verb

chanter

1. to pray (to God)
2. to sing
3. to retell, to recount

Conjugation

This verb conjugates as a first-group verb ending in -er. The forms that would normally end in *-ts, *-tt are modified to z, t. Old French conjugation varies significantly by date and by region. The following conjugation should be treated as a guide.

    Conjugation of chanter (see also Appendix:Old French verbs)

		simple			compound
infinitive		chanter			avoir chanté
gerund		en chantant			gerund of avoir + past participle
present participle		chantant
past participle		chanté
person		singular			plural
		first	second	third	first	second	third
indicative		jo	tu	il	nos	vos	il
simple tenses	present	chant	chantes	chante	chantons	chantez	chantent
	imperfect	chantoie, chanteie, chantoe, chanteve	chantoies, chanteies, chantoes, chanteves	chantoit, chanteit, chantot, chanteve	chantiiens, chantiens	chantiiez, chantiez	chantoient, chanteient, chantoent, chantevent
	preterite	chantai	chantas	chanta	chantames	chantastes	chanterent
	future	chanterai	chanteras	chantera	chanterons	chanteroiz, chantereiz, chanterez	chanteront
	conditional	chanteroie, chantereie	chanteroies, chantereies	chanteroit, chantereit	chanteriiens, chanteriens	chanteriiez, chanteriez	chanteroient, chantereient
compound tenses	present perfect	present tense of avoir + past participle
	pluperfect	imperfect tense of avoir + past participle
	past anterior	preterite tense of avoir + past participle
	future perfect	future tense of avoir + past participle
	conditional perfect	conditional tense of avoir + past participle
subjunctive		que jo	que tu	qu’il	que nos	que vos	qu’il
simple tenses	present	chant	chanz	chant	chantons	chantez	chantent
	imperfect	chantasse	chantasses	chantast	chantissons, chantissiens	chantissoiz, chantissez, chantissiez	chantassent
compound tenses	past	present subjunctive of avoir + past participle
	pluperfect	imperfect subjunctive of avoir + past participle
imperative		–	tu	–	nos	vos	–
		—	chante	—	chantons	chantez	—

Synonyms

• (to retell): conter

Descendants

• Bourguignon: chantai
• Franc-Comtois: tchaintaie
• French: chanter
• Norman: canter
• Picard: canter
• Walloon: tchanter
• → Middle English: chaunten, chaunte, chawnton
  • English: chant
  • Scots: chant

Romansch

Verb

chanter

1. (Puter) Alternative form of chantar (“to sing”)