canter
pronunciation
How to pronounce canter in British English:
UK [ˈkæntə(r)]
How to pronounce canter in American English:
US [ˈkæntɚ]
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- Noun:
- a smooth 3-beat gait; between a trot and a gallop
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- Verb:
- ride at a canter
- go at a canter, of horses
- ride at a cantering pace
Word Origin
- canter
- canter: [18] Canter comes from phrases such as Canterbury trot, Canterbury pace, etc, which were terms applied to the pace at which medieval pilgrims rode on their way by horse to the shrine of Thomas à Beckett at Canterbury in Kent (earliest references to it are from the 17th century, much later than the time of Chaucer’s pilgrims in the Middle Ages). The abbreviated from canter appeared in the 18th century, initially as a verb, and Samuel Johnson in his Dictionary 1755 defined Canterbury gallop as ‘the hand gallop of an ambling horse, commonly called a canter’.
- canter (v.)
- 1706, from a contraction of Canterbury gallop (1630s), "easy pace at which pilgrims ride to Canterbury" (q.v.). Related: Cantered; cantering.
- canter (n.)
- 1755, from canter (v.).
Example
- 1. I need to see dr. canter right away !
- 2. The canter is united , light and balanced .
- 3. He slowed his horse to a canter .
- 4. It broke into an easy canter .
- 5. The horse won the race at a canter .