chanticleer
noun·/ˈʃæn.tɪˌklɪər/
A rooster, especially as a poetic or storybook figure whose crow seems to conduct the morning (literary). Chanticleer is a name rather than a label. It grants the bird a role and a voice.
Before the sun cleared the hill, the chanticleer rehearsed the day into existence with his sharp, bright cry.
Etymology
From Old French Chantecler “sing-clear,” a proper name given to the rooster in medieval beast tales (notably the cycle that includes Reynard the Fox). English kept the name as a common noun when it wanted a rooster with personality.
Related Words
cockerela young rooster; more literal, less storied
cockcrowthe time or event chanticleer announces
bestiarythe literary tradition that popularized the figure
vesperevening counterpart in the day’s liturgical imagination
Colophon
Cormorant Garamond SemiBold
Christian Thalmann
oklch(55% 0.28 25)