canto

[ kan-toh ]

/ ˈkæn toʊ /

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noun, plural can·tos.

one of the main or larger divisions of a long poem.

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Origin of canto

1580–90; <Italian <Latin cant(us) singing, song, equivalent to can(ere) to sing + -tus suffix of v. action; cf. cant¹, chant

Words nearby canto

canting arms, cantle, cantling, can't make a silk purse out of a sow's ear, can't make head or tail of, canto, canto fermo, canton, Canton crepe, Canton enamel, Cantonese

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How to use canto in a sentence

The little town of Canto Gallo is situated in a narrow valley, and contains about eighty houses.
A Woman's Journey Round the World|Ida Pfeiffer
I had found lodgings in a venda for the last time, the preceding evening, at Canto Gallo.
A Woman's Journey Round the World|Ida Pfeiffer
In fact, eleven stanzas (183-259) correspond to Boccaccio's Teseide, Canto vii.
Chaucer's Works, Volume 1 (of 7) -- Romaunt of the Rose; Minor Poems|Geoffrey Chaucer
This second canto is a delight from beginning to end; Mistral is here in his element; he is at his very best.
Frdric Mistral|Charles Alfred Downer

This canto never would have converted Boileau from his disapproval of the "merveilleux chrétien."
Frdric Mistral|Charles Alfred Downer

British Dictionary definitions for canto

canto

/ (ˈkæntəʊ) /

noun plural -tos

music another word for cantus (def. 2)

a main division of a long poem

Word Origin for canto

C16: from Italian: song, from Latin cantus, from canere to sing

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012