lexicow

chant

/tʃænt//tʃɑːnt/·noun & verb
I watch a chapel lit by torches and a tall arched window glowing softly behind, a long rack of votive candles burning at the front. There is no caster and no door — only a choir of robed figures swaying together from the waist on a beat that never changes, every candle swelling and dimming in the very same time. Nothing builds toward anything; nothing opens. The same pulse just goes on and on, voice on voice — the point is not to arrive anywhere but to keep the rhythm going.
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Definition

A chant is a phrase repeated in a steady rhythm — from the Latin cantare, 'to sing'. Crowds chant a slogan, monks chant a psalm, fans chant a name; the power is in the repetition itself, not in any single line. Unlike an incantation, which climbs through its words to one magical result, a chant simply repeats — the same beat returning until it begins to resonate in the body, content to persist with no destination at all. As a verb it means to say or sing such a phrase over and over.

Examples

  • The crowd began to chant the player's name as he walked onto the pitch.
  • Protesters chanted outside the courthouse for three straight hours.
  • At dawn the monks chant the same low phrase they have sung for centuries.

Collocations

chant a slogan·a rhythmic chant·chant in unison·break into a chant·a protest chant

Synonyms

incantation·mantra·refrain·slogan·litany

See also

Word family

chanting (noun)·chanter (noun)

In TOEFL & IELTS

Common in passages on religion, music, sport and protest, and used as both noun and verb ('they chanted', 'a chant went up'). The exam point is the overlap with incantation: a chant is repeated rhythmic words (often a crowd or ritual), while an incantation is specifically a magic spell building to an effect. Note the US/UK vowel: US /tʃænt/, UK /tʃɑːnt/.