The corpus record — Latin

cantor

singer

Generated live from the audited Latin corpus — every figure on this page is a database query, not prose from memory.

Where it lives

Carus et Carinus et Numerianus 1 · 3.77/10k
Satyrarum libri 2 · 1.41/10k
Florida 1 · 1.27/10k
Pro P. Sestio 2 · 1.19/10k
Pseudolus 1 · 0.9/10k
Elegiae 1 · 0.4/10k
Tusculanae Disputationes 2 · 0.35/10k
Historiam ecclesiasticam gentis Anglorum 1 · 0.14/10k
Ad Lucilium Epistulae Morales 1 · 0.08/10k

What it meant

1. cantor — de Vaan

cantor 'singer' (P1.+), cantos, -us 'singing, song' (Andr.+), cantio 'song' (P1-+); canor, -oris [m.] 'song, music', canorus 'resonant, loud' (P1.+); cantilena 'refrain' canus (Ter.+); carmen, -inis 'song' (Lex XII+); vaticinari 'to prophesy, rave' (P1.+); Lat. -cert, -cinis [m.] 'instrument, singer', in: cornicen 'trumpeter* (Var., Cic.+), fidicen 'lyre-player' (Cic.+), fidicina 'female lyre-player' (P1.+), … — [de Vaan, s.v. cantor, p. 101]

2. cantor — de Vaan

cantor 'one who takes precautions' (P1.+), cautela 'caution' (P1-+); praecaved 'to be on one's guard' (P1.+). Pit. *hawe~. It cognates: U- kutef [ptc.pr., nom.sg.m.] 'in silence' vel sim. < *kauetens. PIE *kouhreie- 'to perceive'. IE cognates: Skt a-kuvate 'intends', d-faita'intention'; Skt. kavi-y Av. kauui- [m.] 'seer, poet, wise man' < *kouH-i-; Gr. κοέω 'to perceive, understand', Gr. ι5υο-σκόος '(priest) who … — [de Vaan, s.v. cantor, p. 115]

3. cantor — Lewis & Short

cantor, ōris, m.cano,

I a singer, poet.

I In gen.: omnibus hoc vitium est cantoribus, Hor. S. 1, 3, 1; so id. ib. 1, 3, 129; 1, 2, 3 (mutato nomine cantorem pro musico dicit, Acron.): Thamyras, Prop. 2 (3), 22, 19. cantor Apollo, Hor. A. P. 407 (cf. Apollo): (Caligula) Threx et auriga idem cantor atque saltator, Suet. Calig. 54.—In a contemptuous sense: cantor formularum, Cic. de Or. 1, 55, 236; cf. Plaut. Ps. 1, 3, 132.— And with gen. of the person (conformably to cano, II. B.), an extoller, eulogist: cantores Euphorionis, Cic. Tusc. 3, 19, 45.—

II Esp., in the lang. of the drama, = xoreuth/s, an actor, player (cf. G. Herm. Opusc. I. p. 298), Cic. Sest. 55, 118: donec cantor vos plaudite! dicat, Hor. A. P. 155; Suet. Calig. 54.

In the wild

cantoribus Horace, Satyrarum libri 1.3.1
Cantores Plautus, Pseudolus 1.3
cantorum Cicero, Pro P. Sestio 118
cantoribus Historia Augusta, Carus et Carinus et Numerianus 16
cantores Cicero, Tusculanae Disputationes index.1.p221
cantorum Cicero, Pro P. Sestio 118

6 of 12 attestations shown.

Where it came from

de Vaan, Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages (Brill 2008) Treated in de Vaan, Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages (Brill 2008) s.v. cantor (scan pp. 101-102; entry #196). Root candidates: *kekan-.

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Latin text and lemmatization derived from the Perseus Digital Library (canonical-latinLit), CC BY-SA 4.0. Lewis & Short (public domain) via Perseus. This derived data is shared under the same CC BY-SA 4.0 license.