cantus

[ kan-tuhs ]

/ ˈkæn təs /

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noun, plural can·tus.

cantus firmus.

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Origin of cantus

From Latin, dating back to 1580–90; see origin at canto

Words nearby cantus

can't seem to, can't see the forest for the trees, can't stand, cant strip, Cantuar., cantus, cantus firmus, can't wait, canty, Canuck, canula

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use cantus in a sentence

Write four times, changing the cantus firmus into every part.
A Treatise on Simple Counterpoint in Forty Lessons|Friedrich J. Lehmann
Tua vox est dulcior quam cantus avium aut murmur rivuli in montibus.
New Chronicles of Rebecca|Kate Douglas Wiggin
Two-part counterpoint comprises a cantus firmus and a counterpoint.
A Treatise on Simple Counterpoint in Forty Lessons|Friedrich J. Lehmann
Two notes are written in the counterpoint to one of the cantus firmus, except in the last measure.
A Treatise on Simple Counterpoint in Forty Lessons|Friedrich J. Lehmann

To cantus firmus a write two counterpoints above and two below in the first species.
A Treatise on Simple Counterpoint in Forty Lessons|Friedrich J. Lehmann

British Dictionary definitions for cantus

cantus

/ (ˈkæntəs) /

noun plural -tus

a medieval form of church singing; chant

Also called: canto the highest part in a piece of choral music

(in 15th- or 16th-century music) a piece of choral music, usually secular, in polyphonic style

Word Origin for cantus

Latin: song, 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