Word of the Day 3-2-12

Cant:

1. To talk hypocritically.

2. To speak in the whining or singsong tone of a beggar; beg.

noun:

1. Insincere, especially conventional expressions of enthusiasm for high ideals, goodness, or piety.

2. The private language of the underworld.

3. The phraseology peculiar to a particular class, party, profession, etc.

4. Whining or singsong speech, especially of beggars.

 

Origin:

Cant  comes from the same Latin word as chant , the Latin word for song, cantus . The sense of "insincere talk" arose in the early 1700s.