cantle
/ˈkæntəl/noun
cantle is spelled C-A-N-T-L-E: 6 letters and 2 syllables. It appears about once in every 33 million words in written English, the 176,009th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, cantle means “The raised back of a saddle” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of cantle is cantles.
How many letters and syllables are in cantle?
| Letters | 6: C-A-N-T-L-E |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 33 million words; the 176,009th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Same letters |
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); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is cantle?
Cantle appears about once in every 33 million words in written English, the 176,009th 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 cantle?
- UK /ˈkantəl/
- US /ˈkæntəl/
Cantle has 2 syllables (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: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-cantle.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with cantle?
No other word on PlainSpell ends in the same sounds as cantle (/æntəl/).
Spelled with the same letters in another order: lancet, cental.
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of cantle
- cantles plural, present, singular, he/she/it
- cantling participle, present
- cantled participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does cantle mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
obsoleteA splinter, slice, or sliver broken off something.
See how this river comes me cranking in, / And cuts me from the best of all my land / A huge half-moon, a monstrous cantle out.
- 2
The raised back of a saddle.
- 3
ScotlandThe top of the head.
- 4
ScotlandOn many styles of sporran, a metal arc along the top of the pouch, usually fronting the clasp.
verb
- 1
obsoleteTo cut into pieces.
- 2
obsoleteTo cut out from.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Cantle in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense back part of saddle:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | troussequin |
| German | Sattelbausch, Sattelwulst |
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 cantle come from?
From Middle English cantle, cantel, from Old Northern French cantel, Old French chantel (Modern French chanteau, Bourguignon chainteâ), from Medieval Latin cantellus, diminutive of Latin cantus (“corner”). Compare cant (Etymology 3). Kroonen instead connects this term with Dutch kant (“side; edge”) and German Kanz (“mane, upper part of the neck”), deriving them from a Proto-Germanic *kantaz (“side (of the head?); cheek”), connecting it to the Baltic words Lithuanian žandas (“cheek, jaw”) and Latvian zuods (“chin, jaw”), all from a hypothetical Proto-Indo-European *ǵond-o-.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).