Obs. [ad. L. cantiōn-em singing incantation, f. cant- ppl. stem of canĕre to sing.]
1. A song.
1579. E. K., Spenser’s Sheph. Cal., Oct. Gloss., Singing a Cantion of Colins making.
c. 1660. Sir G. Wharton, Fasts & Fest., Wks. (1683), 17. The Ecclesiastical Cantion thereon [Quinquagesima] used, taken from Psalm 30.
2. An incantation, charm.
1656. Blount, Glossogr., Cantion, a song or enchantment, a sorcery or charm.
1678. Cudworth, Intell. Syst., I. iv. 349. The Arcane Cantion … harps much upon this Point.
