CHANT • FREE-TRANSLATOR.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

... describing (Ann. Rep., June, 1890, p. 47) the movements and actions of the Kiwai (Fly river mouth) natives prior to a canoe attack by them upon him, says: "The canoes darted hither and thither, as if performing a circus dance or a Highland reel, and all these movements were accompanied by the chant of a paean that sounded as if composed to imitate the cooing—soft, plaintive, and melodious—of the pigeons of their native forests"; and he refers to the performance as a "canoe choral dance." It was, of course, not ...

— The Mafulu - Mountain People of British New Guinea • Robert W. Williamson

... "A Maori death-chant unmistakable," Pool exclaimed, "sung by an Hawaiian with a tattooed tongue! Repeat it once again, and I shall say ...

— On the Makaloa Mat/Island Tales • Jack London

... gazing down upon the far-off troubles of the world. Peter would peer from behind the curtains and see the Chief Magistrian emerging from behind the seven mystic veils, lifting his rolling voice and in a kind of chant expounding life to his flock of adoring society ladies. He would point to the picture and explain those golden, Olympian days when the Eleutherinian cult had originated. The world had changed much since then, and for the worse; those who had power must take ...

— 100%: The Story of a Patriot • Upton Sinclair

... is that?" said Dorcas Jane, as a new sound came from the direction of the river, a long chant stretching itself like a snake across the prairie, and as they listened there were words that lifted and fell with an odd ...

— The Trail Book • Mary Austin et al

... staying on and on, and would always stay, because those enchantresses that whisper in the evening breezes of the mountains and the desert, that put forth caressing hands in the balmy air that bathes the hills and canyons in the early morning, whose wooing voices sing in the music of birds and chant in the cries of wild things at night, had taken captive their wills, and they could not go ...

— Emerson's Wife and Other Western Stories • Florence Finch Kelly

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