Where does “recant” come from?
Recant comes from Latin recantare, composed of the prefix re- and cantus, which derives from Ancient Greek κανθός meaning corner or angle.
recant (English): To withdraw or repudiate a statement or opinion...
Definitions
- To withdraw or repudiate a statement or opinion...
Ancestry of “recant”, step by step
recant traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.
via Latin recantare
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Latin | recantare | — |
| 2 | Latin | recanto | to sing back, reecho, sing again, repeat in... |
| 3 | Latin | canto | I sing; I enchant, or call forth by charms,... |
| 4 | Latin | cantus | sung, recited; sounded, blew; chanted |
| 5 | Latin | canere | present active infinitive of canō; second-person... |
| 6 | Latin | caneo | I am white, gray or hoary |
| 7 | Latin | -eo | Forms stative verbs from adjectives; dative... |
| 8 | Proto-Italic | -ēō | Forms stative verbs, indicating a state of being;... |
| 9 | Proto-Italic | -ējō | — |
| 10 | Proto-Indo-European | -éh₁yeti | Thematicization of the athematic stative verbal... |
| 11 | Proto-Indo-European | -yeti | Creates transitive imperfective verbs from roots |
via English cant
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | cant | An argot, the jargon of a particular class or... |
| 2 | Middle English | cant | bold, lively, cant |
| 3 | Middle Low German | kant | — |
| 4 | Middle Dutch | kant | — |
| 5 | Latin | canthus | the iron ring around a carriage wheel; the tire;... |
| 6 | Gaulish | cantos | — |
| 7 | Proto-Celtic | cantos | corner, rim |
| 8 | Proto-Indo-European | kh₂ndʰ | — |