English
cant
Cant (jargon) comes from Latin cantō ‘to sing, chant’, probably via Old Northern French canter, from canō ‘to sing’, ultimately from PIE *keh₂n-.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*keh₂n-‘to sing’reconstructed
- Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*kh₂n-é-tireconstructed
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*kanōreconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcanō‘to sing’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEcantō‘to sing, chant’
- Englishearliest quotation c. 1607–1611cant
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*keh₂n-‘to sing’reconstructed
- Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*kh₂n-é-tireconstructed
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*kanōreconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcanō‘to sing’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEcantō‘to sing, chant’
- Englishearliest quotation c. 1607–1611cant
Earliest quotation: c. 1607–1611, Iohn Fletcher: “[I]f he proue not yet / The cunningſt, ranckeſt…”
Linked words
through Proto-Italic *kanō ‘to sing’
through Latin canō ‘sing’
accent, incentive, chanting, bazooka, enchantment, enchant, chanson, chantry, chanter, 45 more
through Latin cantō ‘synonym of canō’
Another origin of cant
- Middle Dutchc. 1150–1500cant‘point, side, edge’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500same form‘edge, brink’
- Englishtodaysame form
Another origin of cant
- Middle Low Germanc. 1200–1600*kantuncertain
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500cant‘bold, lively, cant’
- Englishtodaysame form
From Middle English cant, kaunt, presumably from Middle Low German *kant, perhaps a slang word related to kant (‘edge, rim’), from Medieval Latin canthus. Attested from the 13th or 14th century.
Today it means
noun An argot, the jargon of a particular class or subgroup.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *keh₂n- / cant