noun · 2 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot
Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.
Sound
Pronunciation
Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.
shäɴ-sôɴ′
Received-Pronunciation:/ʃɑ̃ːˈsɔ̃ː/
Southern-England:Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
General-American:/ʃɑ̃ˈsɔ̃/
General-American, cot-caught-merger:/ʃɑ̃ˈsɑ̃/
Canada:/ʃɒ̃ˈsɒ̃/
Canada:/ʃɑ̃ˈsɒ̃/
Canada, cot-caught-merger:/ʃɒ̃ˈsɑ̃/
Canada, cot-caught-merger:/ʃɑ̃ˈsɑ̃/
Australian, New-Zealand:/ʃɐ̃ːˈsõː/
Scotland:/ʃãˈsɔ̃/
homophone: chansons
CMU ARPABET:SH AA1 N S AO2 N
Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
1
noun
Meaning 1
Any song with French words, but more specifically a classic, lyric-driven French song.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
2
noun
Meaning 2
A religious song.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: obsolete
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
History
Etymology
From French chanson f (“song”), from Latin cantio f. Doublet of cantion and canzone.
Across languages
Translations
20 source translations are retained for this English entry.
Arabic:
no attested term in Arabic
— French song
Arabic:
but see أُغْنِيَّة فَرَنْسِيَّة
(ʔuḡniyya faransiyya)
— French song
Armenian:
շանսոն
(šanson)
— French song
Chinese Mandarin:
香頌 /香颂
(xiāngsòng)
— French song
