cant

Etymology 1

From Latin cantō probably via Old Northern French canter (“sing, tell”). Doublet of chant.

noun

1. (countable) An argot, the jargon of a particular class or subgroup.
   He had the look of a prince, but the cant of a fishmonger.
   I am aware that the phrase free inquiry has become too much a cant phrase soiled by the handling of the ignorant and the reckless by those who fall into the mistake of supposing that religion has its root in the understanding and by those who can see just far enough to doubt and no further. 1836, Three discourses preached before the Congregational Society in Watertown, page 65
2. (countable, uncountable) A private or secret language used by a religious sect, gang, or other group.
3. A language spoken by some Irish Travellers; Shelta.
4. (uncountable, derogatory) Empty, hypocritical talk.
   ... he knew very well that if they thought him clever they were being taken in, but it pleased him to have been able to take them in, and he tried to do so still further; he was therefore a good deal on the look-out for cants that he could catch and apply in season, and might have done himself some mischief thus if he had not been ready to throw over any cant as soon as he had come across another more nearly to his fancy ... 1903, Samuel Butler, chapter 46, in The Way of All Flesh
5. (uncountable) Whining speech, such as that used by beggars.
6. (countable, heraldry) A blazon of a coat of arms that makes a pun upon the name (or, less often, some attribute or function) of the bearer, canting arms.
7. (obsolete) A call for bidders at a public fair; an auction.
   […]but numbers of these tenants or their descendants are now offering to sell their leases by cant, 1729, Jonathan Swift, The Intelligencer, number 19

verb

1. (intransitive) To speak with the jargon of a class or subgroup.
   […]that uncouth affected garb of speech, or canting language rather, if I may so call it 1854, Robert Sanderson, “The case of the liturgy”, in The Works of Robert Sanderson, D.D., Sometime Bishop of Lincoln, volume 5, page 56
2. (intransitive) To speak in set phrases.
3. (intransitive) To talk, beg, or preach in a singsong or whining fashion, especially in a false or empty manner.
   [S]he was one of your ſoft ſpoken, canting, whining hypocrites, who with a truly jeſuitical art, could wreſt evil out of the moſt inoffenſive thought, word, look or action; […] 1765, Catherine Jemmat, The Memoirs of Mrs. Catherine Jemmat, Daughter of the Late Admiral Yeo, of Plymouth. Written by Herself, 2nd edition, volume I, London: Printed for the author, at Charing-Cross, →OCLC, page 145
4. (intransitive, heraldry) Of a blazon, to make a pun that references the bearer of a coat of arms.
5. (obsolete) To sell by auction, or bid at an auction.
   […]labouring with all their might for preventing the bishops from letting their revenues at a moderate half value[…] at the very instant, when they were every where canting their own land upon short leases, and sacrificing their oldest tenants for a penny an acre advance. 1720, Jonathan Swift, A Proposal for the Use of Irish Manufacture

Etymology 2

From Middle English cant (“edge, brink”), from Middle Dutch cant (“point, side, edge”) (Modern Dutch kant (“side, edge”)), ultimately of Celtic or Latin origin. Related to Medieval Latin cantus (“corner, side”), from Latin canthus.

noun

1. (obsolete) Side, edge, corner, niche.
   Under the cant of a hill.
2. Slope, the angle at which something is set.
3. A corner (of a building).
4. An outer or external angle.
5. An inclination from a horizontal or vertical line; a slope or bevel; a tilt.
6. A movement or throw that overturns something.
   It is not only of great service in keeping the boat in her due position on the sea, but also in creating a tendency immediately to recover from any sudden cant, or lurch, from a heavy wave; and it is besides beneficial in diminishing the violence of beating against the sides of the vessel which she may go to relieve. 1830, The Edinburgh Encyclopedia, volume 3, page 621
7. A sudden thrust, push, kick, or other impulse, producing a bias or change of direction; also, the bias or turn so given.
   to give a ball a cant
8. (coopering) A segment forming a side piece in the head of a cask.
9. A segment of the rim of a wooden cogwheel.
10. (nautical) A piece of wood laid upon the deck of a vessel to support the bulkheads.
11. (lumbering) An unfinished log after preliminary cutting.

verb

1. (transitive) To set (something) at an angle.
   to cant a cask; to cant a ship
   Mirrors in the compartments have been canted out of the vertical plane to reduce reflections to the passengers when seated. 1979 August, Graham Burtenshaw, Michael S. Welch, “O.V.S. Bulleid's SR loco-hauled coaches - 1”, in Railway World, page 396
2. (transitive) To give a sudden turn or new direction to.
   to cant round a stick of timber; to cant a football
3. (transitive) To bevel an edge or corner.
4. (transitive) To overturn so that the contents are emptied.

Etymology 3

Unknown, but compare Provençal cantel (“corner, piece”) or Old Northern French cantel (“piece broken off”). The verb is attested from the 15th century, and the noun from the 16th. See cantle, from which cant is possibly back-formed as if it contained the suffix -le.

verb

1. (transitive, obsolete) To divide or parcel out.

noun

1. (regional, forestry) A parcel, a division.

Etymology 4

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.

adj

1. (Britain, dialect) Lively, lusty.