chanson

noun

chan·​son shän-ˈsȯn How to pronounce chanson (audio)
-ˈsän,
shäⁿ-ˈsōⁿ How to pronounce chanson (audio)
plural chansons
shän-ˈsȯnz,
-ˈsänz,
shäⁿ-ˈsōⁿ(z) How to pronounce chanson (audio)
: song
specifically : a music-hall or cabaret song

Examples of chanson in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web Inside the spell of Diamond Jubilee’s ’60s psychedelic chanson garage-pop there is unbridled romance and hope, yet to consider its obstinately antiquated and luddite qualities in the stark reality of the 2020s is to feel total hopelessness. Pitchfork, 1 Oct. 2024 Nueva Canción draws inspiration from French chanson. Daniella Tello-Garzon, refinery29.com, 18 Jan. 2024 As with other yé-yé singers, Hardy’s music blended mid-1960s bubblegum pop, groovy guitar lines and France’s romantic chanson tradition to create sticky-sweet love songs. Randall Roberts, Los Angeles Times, 12 June 2024 Audiard makes a case that the movie musical is the only genre that could have contained all this, enlisting nouvelle chanson artist Camille to write the songs and her partner Clément Ducol to compose the score. David Rooney, The Hollywood Reporter, 18 May 2024 There’s a little Edith Piaf in Peyroux’s singing as well, evocations of the famous French cabaret and chanson vocalist. David L. Coddon, San Diego Union-Tribune, 14 Mar. 2024 Mélusine is half French chanson/half idiosyncratic art song, which in its course reveals its own soaring majesty. Spin Staff, SPIN, 5 June 2023 The opening reminds me of the essential French genre the chanson, which people associate with someone like Edith Piaf. Charlie Harding, Vulture, 5 May 2023 Mélusine, Cécile McLorin Salvant’s new album (released on March 24th), is half-French chanson/half-idiosyncratic art song that, when taken as a whole, reveals itself to be a creature of soaring majesty as well. Steve Hochman, SPIN, 28 Mar. 2023

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'chanson.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

French, from Latin cantion-, cantio, from canere

First Known Use

circa 1513, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of chanson was circa 1513

Dictionary Entries Near chanson

Cite this Entry

“Chanson.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/chanson. Accessed 31 Oct. 2024.

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