CHANT • DICTIONARY ONE.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

... of this jewelry. The woods are full of the clatter of arms; the ringing of bucks' horns in flight; the stampede of mailed feet up and down the glades; and a great dust of battle is puffed out into the open, till the last of the ice is beaten away and the cleared branches take up their regular chant. ...

— Letters of Travel (1892-1913) • Rudyard Kipling

... A chant unlike anything the boys had ever heard before undulated through the forest. It rose and fell with the gusts of wind, and always nearer to ...

— Boy Scouts in an Airship • G. Harvey Ralphson

... That there tail of yourn needs a fresh rag tied to it, and some salve. But I ain't the burrowin' kind of animal, and I ain't comin' in under there after yuh. Come, kitty-kitty-kitty! Come on outa there 'fore I send a charge of birdshot in after yuh!" His voice changed to a tremulous chant of rising anger. "You wall-eyed, mangy, rat-eatin' son of a gun, what have I been feedin' yuh fur all these years? You come outa there! If it wasn't for the love uh God I got in my heart, I'll fill yuh so full of holes the ...

— The Phantom Herd • B. M. Bower

... H. Ross, to whom every reader will be indebted along with myself. It runs as follows: "From the vale, what music ringing, Fills the bosom of the night; On the sense, entranced, flinging Spells of witchery and delight! O'er magnolia, lime and cedar, From yon locust-top, it swells, Like the chant of serenader, Or the rhymes of silver bells! Listen! dearest, listen to it! Sweeter sounds were never heard! 'Tis the song of that wild poet — Mime and minstrel — Mocking-bird. "See him, swinging in his glory, On yon topmost ...

— Select Poems of Sidney Lanier • Sidney Lanier

... Demogorgon. He rises, hurls down the enemies of progress and freedom, releases Prometheus, and spreads liberty and happiness through all the world. Then the Moon, the Earth, and the Voices of the Air break forth into a magnificent chant of praise. The most delicate fancies, the most gorgeous imagery, and the most fiery, exultant emotions are combined in this poem with something of the stateliness of its Greek prototype. The swelling cadences of the blank verse and the tripping rhythm of the lyrics are the product of a nature ...

— Halleck's New English Literature • Reuben P. Halleck

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