Skip to the word

Added 9 October 2026

chantwell

/ˈtʃæntwɛl/ noun

noun Definition from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). Pronunciation from Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org. More about chantwell at Wordnik → Where our words come from →

A (generally female) lead singer of traditional cariso music, or of a calypso band. .mw-parser-output .defdate{font-size:smaller}

Origin

Probably from French chanterelle (“female bird used by hunters as a decoy to attract other birds; treble string of a musical instrument”), from chanter (“to sing, crow”) + -erelle (variant of -elle (suffix forming feminine nouns, often with a diminutive sense)).

From Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org (CC BY-SA)

Back to today's word