canto
Sign in to savethumb|right|Detail of a 14th-century manuscript of Dante Alighieri's Commedia, a three-part poem (Inferno, Purgatorio, Paradiso) that was divided into 100 cantos. The canto () is a principal form of division in medieval and modern long poetry.
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Article
5 sectionsContents
- Etymology and equivalent terms
- Form and use
- Examples
- Citations
- General references
thumb|right|Detail of a 14th-century manuscript of Dante Alighieri's Commedia, a three-part poem (Inferno, Purgatorio, Paradiso) that was divided into 100 cantos. The canto () is a principal form of division in medieval and modern long poetry.
==Etymology and equivalent terms== The word canto is derived from the Italian word for "song" or "singing", which comes from the Latin cantus, "song", from the infinitive verb canere, "to sing". This, in turn, derives from the Proto-Indo-European (PIE) root *kan-, meaning "to sing". The root refers to making sound, chanting, or singing, and is the source of many words (in Indian & European languages) related to vocal music, such as chant, canticle, and incantation.