Wordwyrt

enchant

/enˈtʃænt/en-CHANT
/ɛnˈtʃænt/en-CHANT

Meaningto repeat a chant

Common meaning: to delight

Other meanings: to bewitch

‘in, into’ + ‘to sing’ → enchant

Journey through time

  • en — Latin in- “in, into; upon” (path traced)
  • chant — Latin canō / cantō “to sing” (path traced)

Parts join in Latin as incantare.

  1. Latinin- + cantare (from canere)‘in, into; upon + to sing’source
  2. Latinincantare‘to repeat a chant’source
  3. Old Frenchenchantersource
  4. Middle Englishenchauntensource
  5. Englishmeaning shiftsto repeat a chant → to delightenchant‘to delight’ · today

Sources & notes

Meaning: “Meaning” is the sense that emerges from the word’s roots; “Common meaning” is today’s everyday sense. Both written by us.

Pronunciation

  • UK IPA: converted from the US form by rule (unchecked). Respelling: generated.
  • No UK recording; the speaker uses your device’s en-GB voice.
  • US IPA: CMUdict (BSD-2), converted to IPA by rule. Respelling: generated.
  • No US recording; the speaker uses your device’s en-US voice.

Origin: Built on Latin incantare, which Skeat analyses as in- ‘in, into; upon’ + cantare ‘to sing’.

Roots

Related words

descantdisenchantdisenchantmentprecentorrecantincantation

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