cant

[…]

/[…]/ noun

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

The verdict

“cant” is uncommon German (frequency #62,279 among 20,081 “C” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#62,279
frequency rank, German
20,081
“C” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - der Gesang, das Singen (von Liedern)

Key facts for cant
PropertyValue
Headwordcant
LanguageGerman
Part of speechNoun
IPA[…]
Letters4
Frequency rank#62,279
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “cant” sits in German frequency

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right). cant lands here:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

cant is uncommon German at frequency #62,279 among 20,081 “C” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed […]. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 4 senses are on record.

Our edit-distance generator produced no likely misspellings for cant, since its letter sequence doesn't invite the usual edit-distance slips. Our confusable-pair dataset has no match for it, since nothing in our dataset looks or sounds close enough to cause mix-ups.

This headword's origin isn't recorded in our source data, so its spelling is easiest to reason about phoneme by phoneme, absent a documented history. The correct German form is cant, spelled C-A-N-T.

Definition

  1. 1
    der Gesang, das Singen (von Liedern)
  2. 2
    der Cantus, der Gesang
  3. 3
    Grillen / Zikaden: das Zirpen
  4. 4
    das Krähen, der Hahnenschrei (Kurzform für: el cant del gall

Synonyms

cantada

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 German corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "cant"?
"cant" is spelled C-A-N-T. The IPA pronunciation is […].
What does "cant" mean?
As a noun, "cant" means: der Gesang, das Singen (von Liedern)
How do you pronounce "cant"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "cant" is […]. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "cant" come from?
"cant" is a German word. PlainSpell's reference spans five languages -- English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German -- with definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data for each.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Using “cant”

The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.

  • The one correct German spelling is C-A-N-T - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • Say it as […] (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
  • Browse more German words and confusable pairs in the same reference. German words

Other uncommon German words near this rank

Data Source

Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list