Cantle

//ˈkæntəl// noun, verb

noun, verb ·Uncommon ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    A splinter, slice, or sliver broken off something. obsolete

    "See how this river comes me cranking in, / And cuts me from the best of all my land / A huge half-moon, a monstrous cantle out."

  2. 2
    the back of a saddle seat wordnet
  3. 3
    The raised back of a saddle.

    "He recognised a horse when he saw one, and could do more than fill a cantle."

  4. 4
    The top of the head. Scotland
  5. 5
    On many styles of sporran, a metal arc along the top of the pouch, usually fronting the clasp. Scotland
Verb
  1. 1
    To cut into pieces. obsolete, transitive
  2. 2
    To cut out from. obsolete, transitive

Example

More examples

"See how this river comes me cranking in, / And cuts me from the best of all my land / A huge half-moon, a monstrous cantle out."

Etymology

From Middle English cantle, cantel, from Old Northern French cantel, Old French chantel (Modern French chanteau, Bourguignon chainteâ), from Medieval Latin cantellus, diminutive of Latin cantus (“corner”). Compare cant (Etymology 3).

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.