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PlainSpell

cant

/kænt/noun, verb, adjective

cant is spelled C-A-N-T: 4 letters and one syllable. It appears 22 times per million words in written English, the 3,939th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, cant means “An argot, the jargon of a particular class or subgroup” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of cant is cants.

How many letters and syllables are in cant?

Letters4: C-A-N-T
Syllables1 (from its American pronunciation)
In writing22 times per million words; the 3,939th most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searchednone measured in search
Pairs people search

Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026).

How common is cant?

Cant appears 22 times per million words in written English, the 3,939th most frequent word form in the list.

Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How do you pronounce cant?

  • /kænt/

Cant has one syllable (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-cant.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

Words people confuse with cant

Word pairs people search, with the monthly searches for “a vs b” (G: Google, B: Bing, United States).

can't vs cant0 B

Sources: Google and Bing searches (September 2025 to August 2026, through DataForSEO); English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).

Forms of cant

  • cants plural, present, singular, he/she/it
  • canting participle, present
  • canted participle, past
  • kant

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What does cant mean?

The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).

noun

  1. 1

    An argot, the jargon of a particular class or subgroup.

    He had the look of a prince, but the cant of a fishmonger.

  2. 2

    A private or secret language used by a religious sect, gang, or other group.

  3. 3

    A language spoken by some Irish Travellers; Shelta.

  4. 4

    derogatoryEmpty, hypocritical talk.

  5. 5

    Whining speech, such as that used by beggars.

  6. 6

    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. 7

    obsoleteA call for bidders at a public fair; an auction.

  8. 8

    obsoleteSide, edge, corner, niche.

    under the cant of a hill

  9. 9

    Slope, the angle at which something is set.

  10. 10

    A corner (of a building).

  11. 11

    An outer or external angle.

  12. 12

    An inclination from a horizontal or vertical line; a slope or bevel; a tilt.

  13. 13

    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 vi

  14. 14

    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

  15. 15

    A segment forming a side piece in the head of a cask.

  16. 16

    A parcel, a division.

verb

  1. 1

    To speak with the jargon of a class or subgroup.

  2. 2

    To speak in set phrases.

  3. 3

    To talk, beg, or preach in a singsong or whining fashion, especially in a false or empty manner.

  4. 4

    Of a blazon, to make a pun that references the bearer of a coat of arms.

  5. 5

    obsoleteTo sell by auction, or bid at an auction.

  6. 6

    To set (something) at an angle; to tilt.

    to cant a cask

  7. 7

    To give a sudden turn or new direction to.

    to cant round a stick of timber

  8. 8

    To bevel an edge or corner.

  9. 9

    To overturn so that the contents are emptied.

  10. 10

    obsoleteTo divide or parcel out.

adjective

  1. 1

    UKLively, lusty.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

Cant in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
GermanFachsprache, Jargon (jargon of a particular class or subgroup), Gaunersprache, Rotwelsch (secret language), Phrasendrescherrei, Phrase (hypocritical talk)
Portuguesejargão (jargon of a particular class or subgroup), código, criptoleto (secret language)
Spanishargot, jerga (jargon of a particular class or subgroup), coa (secret language)
Frenchargot (secret language), langue de bois, blabla (hypocritical talk), lamentation (whining speech, such as that used by beggars), armes parlantes (heraldry: blazon that makes a pun, canting arms), canter (set something at an angle)

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.

Where does cant come from?

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

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What to look up after cant