cant-, chant- +

1. A stress on a syllable to aid in the pronunciation of words; stress, emphasis: "The word 'woman' has its accent on the first syllable."
2. Pronunciation, enunciation, or modulation of speech: "He speaks with a French accent."
3. A hint, touch, detail; trimming: "The room was painted white with a few blue accents."
4. Etymology: from about 1538, "a particular mode of pronunciation"; from Middle French (about 1400-1600) accent, from Old French (about 900-1400) acent; which came from Latin accentus, "song added to speech"; from ad-, "to" + cantus, "a singing", past participle of canere, "to sing".

Loan-translation of Greek prosoidia, from pros-, "to" + oide, "song", which apparently described the pitch scheme in Greek verse.

The decorating sense of "something that emphasizes or highlights" is from 1972. The verb meaning "to pronounce with an accent or a stress" is first recorded 1530.

1. Involving or associated with accent or stress as with speech, song, etc.
2. Employing a structure based on the number of stresses in a poetic line instead of the number of syllables.
3. Having a metric system based on stress rather than syllables or quantity.
4. A reference to making something more noticeable: "He likes to wear clothes that tend to be accentual."

1. To make a feature of something more noticeable: "We were convinced that the newspaper article accentuated, or emphasized, the positive aspects of the program."
2. To emphasize a syllable, word, or phrase when saying it: "When she spoke, she tended to accentuate her words with French pronunciations."
3. Etymology: known from 1731, from Medieval Latin (written and spoken from 700 to 1500) accentuatus, past participle of accentuare, "to accent", from Latin accentus, "song added to speech"; from ad-, "to" + cantus, "a singing"; past participle of canere, "to sing".

1. The use or application of an accent; such as, the relative prominence of syllables in a phrase or utterance.
2. The act of giving special importance or significance to something: "There was a great deal of accentuation on learning more vocabulary in his class."

Tone, melody.

In Roman Catholic churches, a reference to church music, in which a part of the liturgy of the Mass is chanted by the celebrant alone.

Melody or sweet singing.

Singing, melodious, harmonious, musical; resonant, ringing.

Singing, melodious; resonant, ringing: "He chooses his language for its rich canorousness rather than for intensity of meaning."

1. Boring talk filled with clichés and platitudes.
2. Insincere talk; especially, regarding morals or religion. 3. Jargon or the special language or vocabulary of a particular group; especially, a group that some people look down on or lack respect for.
4. Etymology: "insincere talk" from 1709; earlier, in 1567, it was slang for "whining of beggars; from Old North French (dialect of northern France before the 1500s) canter, "to sing, to chant", from Latin cantare, canere, "to sing".

A professional female singer; especially, of opera.

1. A song or chant; especially, a hymn containing words derived from the Bible, used in some Christian liturgies.
2. Etymology: from Latin canticulum, "little song".

1. A section out of several into which a long poem may be divided or one of the principal divisions of a long poem.
2. Etymology: from 1590, from Latin cantus, "song".

As "a section of a long poem" was used in Italian by Dante and in English first by Spenser.

1. A phrase or slogan repeatedly and rhythmically spoken, often with a simple singsong intonation, especially in unison by a crowd or group.
2. Something spoken monotonously or repetitiously; such as, a monotonous or repetitive song or intonation of the voice.
3. Music with a religious text or a set of words or syllables sung on the same note, or a single word or syllable sung on a series of notes.

Chants are used in psalms, canticles, and other parts of some religious services.

4. A psalm, prayer, or other religious text sung as a chant or repeatedly and rhythmically uttered.
5. Etymology: from Old French chanter, from Latin cantare, canere, "to sing">

Someone who says a word or a phrase many times in a rhythmic way; usually, loudly and with other people: "He was a chanter during the Catholic Mass in Latin."

A song chanted by sailors as they work or a rhythmical work song originally sung by sailors.