2007-01-26 03:12:32 · 4 answers · asked by nietfred 1 in Education & Reference ➔ Words & Wordplay
It's spelled chanticleer, and it's an old French word meaning a rooster.
In the old French tales of Reynard the Fox, one of the characters is a rooster name Chanticleer. Chaucer took that tale into English, and made it part of his book The Canturbury Tales, using the same name for the character.
It's a neat name for a rooster, because in French chante-cler means "sing-loud".
2007-01-26 03:20:47 · answer #1 · answered by K ; 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Chanticleer was the name of the rooster in old fables with Reynard the Fox. One of Chaucer's Canterbury Tales is based on these two, and it was probably based on earlier tales. That makes the name at least 600+ years old.
2007-01-26 11:29:13 · answer #2 · answered by dollhaus 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It comes from ancient Spanish minstrels when they sang their lady in their balcony, they formed a small group of interpreters accompanied by lauds and the best voice declaimed love songs. That singer in the group was called "Canta Claro" that means "declaimer clear". (century XIV) that expression nowadays is applied too to politicians and anybody who speaks clear, it was traduced to almost all languages
2007-01-26 11:37:13 · answer #3 · answered by mc23571 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
My educated guess is French:
chanson = song
The bird (rooster) makes a song.
Maybe Latin was the original language??
2007-01-26 11:19:07 · answer #4 · answered by thisbrit 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋