cantrip
/ˈkæntɹɪp/noun
cantrip is spelled C-A-N-T-R-I-P: 7 letters. It appears about once in every 66 million words in written English, the 255,765th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, cantrip means “A spell or incantation; a trifling magic trick” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of cantrip is cantrips.
How many letters and syllables are in cantrip?
| Letters | 7: C-A-N-T-R-I-P |
|---|---|
| In writing | about once in every 66 million words; the 255,765th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is cantrip?
Cantrip appears about once in every 66 million words in written English, the 255,765th 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 cantrip?
- /ˈkæntɹɪp/
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-NaomiAmethyst-cantrip.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of cantrip
- cantrips plural
- cantrap
- cantrup
- cantraip
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does cantrip mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
A spell or incantation; a trifling magic trick.
Coffins stood round, like open presses, That shaw’d the dead in their last dresses; And by some devilish cantrip slight Each in its cauld hand held a light […]
- 2
A wilful piece of trickery or mischief.
- 3
A minor spell, typically one that can be cast without preparation.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Where does cantrip come from?
From Middle Scots cantrip, cantrap (“a magic charm; a trick”). Further origin obscure, but likely a corruption of Scottish Gaelic canntaireachd (identical to Irish cantaireacht), referring to a system of musical notation consisting of a series of otherwise meaningless syllables memorised by pipers in learning their tunes; this was then used similarly to abracadabra. Regardless of details, ultimately derived from Latin cantō (“to sing, chant, play an instrument”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).