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Chanticleer: WordWednesdayFun

If someone had asked me a few moments ago, “What is a chanticleer?” I would have had to give up! I enjoy learning a new word.

Let Merriam-Webster enlighten you if you were as ignorant as me (or is it I?) 🙂

Lookups for ‘chanticleer’ spike after the CCU Chanticleers become the 2016 College World Series Champions
But what is a ‘chanticleer’?

A ‘chanticleer’ is a rooster. The word comes from the name of a rooster who appeared in various narratives.

chanticleer

Coastal Carolina capitalized on two errors on the same play for four unearned runs in the sixth inning, and the Chanticleers won their first national championship in any sport with a 4-3 victory over Arizona in Game 3 of the College World Series finals on Thursday.
— “Coastal Carolina tops Arizona for College World Series title,” espn.go.com, 30 June, 2016

A chanticleer is a rooster, or an adult male chicken, perhaps not the most common name for a sports team. The word comes from the Middle English Chantecleer, the name of a rooster who appeared as a character in various narratives, going as far back as the name Chantecler, the rooster in the French Roman de Renart (known in English as Reynard the Fox). The French name comes from the words chanter (“to sing”) and cler (“clear”).
The pronunciation we (and most other dictionaries) provide is \chan-tə-ˡklir\, which sounds close to \chan-tuh-CLEER\ . It should be noted that the school that this team is associated with gives a variant pronunciation for the word; they feel that it should be pronounced \SHON-ti-cleer\ .

So, now you know! See you next Wednesday with more word fun 🙂

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3 Comments

  1. g g

    A name for a cock, used especially in fables – I shall leave it at that 🙂

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