Cano

The Latin word canō or cantō means “I sing”. This verb is so basic that if you have ever learned Latin before, you probably still remember it. Especially, cantō has the sense of “I enchant”, compared to canō. These words have a number of descendants in English, so let’s take a look at them.

Related to “to sing”

Firstly, there are some words that are directly related to the meaning “to sing” in a board sense. They include canto (“a section of a long poem”), chant (“to repeat or sing a word or phrase continuously”), and cantata (“a short musical work”).

Related to “to say”

Secondly, some words remain in the sense of “to say” or something like this. Recant can be considered as “to re-say”, and accent is the way you say something.

Related to “to enchant”

Thirdly, several words are especially related to the sense “to enchant” (although the difference between singing and enchanting is blur). For example, the following are about “magic”: enchant, charm, incantation.

Others

Finally, the word incentive ultimately comes from canō, via Latin incentīvus (“that strikes up”) and incinō (“I blow or sound, to sing”).