incant

I1N1C3A1N1T1
/ɪŋˈkænt/

verb

To state solemnly, to chant.

OriginLatin incantō →
Scrabble 8
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Meanings

verbincant (third-person singular simple present incants, present participle incanting, simple past and past participle incanted)

present singular third person incants · participle present incanting · participle past incanted · past incanted

  1. rareTo state solemnly, to chant.
  2. To recite an incantation.

    “Did you speak, child?” she whispered, as if she was a witch incanting a spell.

    2012, David Walliams [pseudonym; David Edward Williams], Ratburger, London: HarperCollins Children’s Books, →ISBN
    1 more example

    They now remember a tall man wrapped in a cloak [...] incanting to himself as he crossed the road.

    2020, Hilary Mantel, The Mirror and the Light, Fourth Estate, page 378

Origin

  1. Latinincantō
  2. Englishincant

First attested in 1546; borrowed from Latin incantō. Doublet of enchant and incantate.

More words from Latin

Full word history & related roots →

Rhymes & wordplay

Anagrams

tannicCantin
Cite this entry
APA

incant. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/incant

MLA

“incant.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/incant. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “incant,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/incant.

Source: incant on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.