▪ I. † ˈcantic, -ick, n. Obs.
[a. F. cantique, ad. L. canticum: see cantica]
A song, a canticle.
| 1483 Caxton Gold. Leg. 27 b/1 It is said in the Cantykes Canticorum ii Aryse thou my spouse, etc. 1613 R. C. Table Alph. (ed. 3), Canticke, a song. 1653 Urquhart Rabelais i. xxiii, Canticks, made in praise of the divine bounty. 1669 Gale Crt. Gentiles i. iii. i. 2 We find not..in the Psalter, or Lamentations any Cantic bound up by Laws of Metre. [1867 Cornh. Mag. 473 A cantique by the village-girls.] |
▪ II. cantic, a.
(ˈkæntɪk)
[f. cant n.1, or its Romanic cognates + -ic.]
cantic quoins (coins): ‘short three-edged pieces of wood to steady casks from labouring against each other’ (Smyth Sailor's Word-bk.). Cf. also cantling 2.
| 1727–51 Chambers Cycl. s.v. Quoin, Cantic Quoins are short, three legged [? edged] quoins, put between casks to keep them steady. 1753 ― Supp., Canting coins, in ship building, the same as cantic coins. |