CHANT • E-FREE TRANSLATION.COM • Definition of Chant

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/tʃænt/ Listen

noun

Chant n.

1.

Song; melody.

2.

(Mus.) A short and simple melody, divided into two parts by double bars, to which unmetrical psalms, etc., are sung or recited. It is the most ancient form of choral music.

3.

A psalm, etc., arranged for chanting.

4.

Twang; manner of speaking; a canting tone. (R.) "His strange face, his strange chant."

Ambrosian chant, See under Ambrosian.

Chant royal, in old French poetry, a poem containing five strophes of eleven lines each, and a concluding stanza. each of these six parts ending with a common refrain.

Gregorian chant. See under Gregorian.

verb

Chant v. t. (past & past part. chanted; pres. part. chanting)

1.

To utter with a melodious voice; to sing. "The cheerful birds... do chant sweet music."

2.

To celebrate in song. "The poets chant in the theaters."

3.

(Mus.) To sing or recite after the manner of a chant, or to a tune called a chant.

Chant v. i.

1.

To make melody with the voice; to sing. "Chant to the sound of the viol."

2.

(Mus.) To sing, as in reciting a chant.

To chant horses or To chant horses, to sing their praise; to overpraise; to cheat in selling. See Chaunter.

See images of 'Chant'

Etymology of 'Chant'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Chant" Quotes from Famous Books

... by the breeze, along with the smell of burning thatch and wood, and the dread sentence with which I commenced this chapter seemed to grow in volume, till to one's excited fancy it became a sort of chant, to which the yells of the blacks, the unceasing rattle of musketry, formed an unholy accompaniment. "Hark, what is that?" was a universal exclamation from the few folk, mostly women, standing in front of Mr. Weil's house, as a curious ...

— South African Memories - Social, Warlike & Sporting From Diaries Written At The Time • Lady Sarah Wilson

... of the south of England the children invite the snail out still less politely. They chant over ...

— Little Folks (October 1884) - A Magazine for the Young • Various

... a French audience all stirred up and ready. Oh, where was your spoken eloquence now! what was it to this! How fine he looked, how stately, how inspired, as he stood there with that mighty chant welling from his lips and his heart, his whole body transfigured, and ...

— Personal Recollections of Joan of Arc - Volume 1 (of 2) • Mark Twain

... Bethlehem, 'twas thine to see God's choir announce the Saviour's birth, And hear those waves of melody Chant peace and good will ...

— The Mountain Spring And Other Poems • Nannie R. Glass

... old times when every Friday brought its batch of doomed men forth from the cells, it was the duty of the bellman of St. Sepulchre's to pass under the prison walls the night before and ring his bell, and chant the ...

— London Films • W.D. Howells

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