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Glite Dictionary
🗣️ A singer 🎶 A melody pipe
chanter

chanter

9.9
A pipe with a reed and holes that plays the tune on bagpipes
  • noun
  • /ˈʧæntər/
  • Specialized
translation icon : chanter
  • As she practiced on her chanter, the notes echoed through the quiet countryside.

Examples

  • The musician skillfully played a beautiful melody on the chanter of his bagpipes.

  • The skirl of the practice chanter made the hair on the back of his neck suddenly stand on end.

    Fiction book (1999)

  • When I blow up my chanter.

    Fiction book (1991)

  • She said... she said... she said chanter.

    The Man Who Killed Don Quixote (2018)

  • He spent hours learning new songs on his chanter to impress his friends at the festival.

Synonyms

melody pipe
vschanter
  • Specialized
7.9

A pipe with finger holes that plays the tune in a bagpipe or organ

is used mainly in bagpipes rather than in organs
reed pipe
vschanter
  • Specialized
7.9

A pipe in an organ that makes sound when a thin metal strip vibrates, giving a bright tone

is fingered to play a melody using holes rather than fixed organ tones

Surface Forms

chanter singular
chanters plural

Morphology

chanter = chant (semi-transparent) = chant + er

Although morphologically chant + -er, the specific referent as the reed pipe of bagpipes is an instrument name derived from function and not the prototypical agentive meaning, so learners may not predict 'pipe' from the base.

Etymology

Chanter The bagpipe part called the chanter comes from an old French and Latin word cantare meaning 'to sing', and you can see the same root in the English word chant. Because the chanter is the part that plays the tune, its name helps you remember that it 'sings' the melody.