Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • transitive & intransitive verb To chant or recite (a liturgical text) in a musical monotone.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • To chant, intone, or recite in a half-singing style, as in Jewish synagogues. Also spelled cantilate.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • intransitive verb To chant; to recite with musical tones.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • verb To chant, or to recite musically (especially in a synagogue)

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • verb recite with musical intonation; recite as a chant or a psalm

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Latin cantilāre, cantilāt-, to sing, from cantāre, to sing; see kan- in Indo-European roots.]

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Examples

Comments

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  • "She cantillated the name as if she either knew a Clarissa or were trying to remember if she did."

    "Dayward" by ZZ Packer, in The New Yorker, June 14 & 21, 2010, page 111

    July 13, 2010