Lewis & Short

Parsing inflected forms may not always work as expected. If the following does not give the correct word, try Latin Words or Perseus.

cantĭlēna, ae, f. [cantillo].

  1. I. In anteclass. and class. lang., a song, in a disparaging sense, an old song; vulg. for silly, trite prattle, gossip: ut crebro mihi insusurret cantilenam suam, Cic. Att. 1, 19, 8: totam istam cantilenam ex hoc pendere, ut quam plurimum lucri faciant, Brut. ap. Cic. Fam. 11, 20, 2: qui non Graeci alicujus cottidianam loquacitatem sine usu, neque ex scholis cantilenam requirunt, Cic. de Or. 1, 23, 105.
    Prov.: cantilenam eandem canis, = [?TO AU)TO A)/(DEIS A) = (SMA ?], ever the old song, Ter. Phorm. 3, 2, 10.
  2. II. Postclass. in a good sense, a song, in gen., Gell. 9, 4, 14; so id. 19, 9, 8: in cantilenis et proverbiis, Vulg. Ecclus. 47, 18: cantilenas meditari pro jubilo molliores, Amm. 22, 4, 6; of a lampoon, Vop. Aur. 7, 2; cf. Fest. p. 181, 16 Müll.