Etymograph

English

chant

Chant comes from Middle English chaunten ‘to chant’, from Old French chanter ‘to sing’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *keh₂n-.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*keh₂n-1‘to sing’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*kh₂n-é-ti1reconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*kanō1‘to sing’reconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcanō2‘sing’
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcanto3as cantāre‘sing’
  6. Old Frenchc. 842–1400chanter3‘to sing’
  7. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500chaunten3‘to chant’
  8. Englishearliest quotation 1590chant3

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Latin cano
  2. 2 Wiktionary, Latin canto
  3. 3 Wiktionary, English chant
  4. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1590, Edmund Spenser, Book I, Canto VII: “the cherefull birds of sundry kind / Do chaunt…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*keh₂n-Wiktionary, Latin cano‘to sing’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*kh₂n-é-tiWiktionary, Latin canoreconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*kanōWiktionary, Latin cano‘to sing’reconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcanōWiktionary, Latin canto‘sing’
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcantoWiktionary, English chantas cantāre‘sing’
  6. Old Frenchc. 842–1400chanterWiktionary, English chant‘to sing’
  7. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500chauntenWiktionary, English chant‘to chant’
  8. Englishearliest quotation 1590chantWiktionary, English chant. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1590, Edmund Spenser, Book I, Canto VII: “the cherefull birds of sundry kind / Do chaunt…”

Linked words

through Latin canō ‘sing’

accent, incentive, bazooka, cantor, incantation, enchantment, recant, canticle, chanson, 45 more

through Latin canto ‘sing’

cant, enchanter, 11 more

through Old French chanter ‘to sing’

shanty, 4 more

Today it means

verb To sing, especially without instruments, and as applied to monophonic and pre-modern music.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “chant”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Latin cano, Latin canto. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *keh₂n- / chant

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