Is 'cant' English, or is it actually Gaelic?

'Cant' is a word borrowed from Gaelic 'caint'. The word entered the English language some time around the 14th century.

cant [adjective] [14th century]

• lively

See 'cant' on the Loan Words Map

See more loan words from Gaelic.

note: From the Irish word caint (older spelling cainnt) speech; talk or Scottish Gaelic cainnt. It is seen to have derived amongst the itinerant groups of people in Ireland and Scotland who hailed from both Irish/Scottish Gaelic and English-speaking backgrounds ultimately developing as various creole languages.
Etymology: Middle English, probably from Middle Low German '*kant'

See more loan words from 1300s.