cantrip
/ˈkæntɹɪp/
Word Rarity
Very rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 1.18 in modern English
11
Scrabble Score
7
Letters
1
Syllables
7
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
A spell or incantation; a trifling magic trick.
noun
A minor spell, typically one that can be cast without preparation.
Example Sentences
- "Coffins stood round, like open presses, That shaw’d the dead in their last dresses; And by some devilish cantrip slight Each in its cauld hand held a light […]"
- "I have some poor little skill—not like yours, Master Doctor, of course—in small spells and cantrips that I’d be glad to use against our enemies if it was agreeable to all concerned."
- "For one thing, I've no intention of distributing cantrips and costly crucifixes to every rapable woman in the Parish of St Magloire."
- "And when I say now the power of the name Jesus makes you whole, I indulge in no petty mountebank’s cantrips."
- "But it sounds to me like you're in a totally different category. Not garden-variety cantrip stuff."
Etymology
From Middle Scots cantrip, cantrap (“a magic charm; a trick”). Further origin obscure, but likely a corruption of Scottish Gaelic canntaireachd (identical to Irish cantaireacht), referring to a system of musical notation consisting of a series of otherwise meaningless syllables memorised by pipers in learning their tunes; this was then used similarly to abracadabra. Regardless of details, ultimately derived from Latin cantō (“to sing, chant, play an instrument”).
Origin
Word Breakdown
- Root: cantrip, canntaireachd, cantō