cantautore

singer-songwriter

noun kahn-tow-TOH-reh Rare

Origin: Portmanteau of cantare (to sing) and autore (author/composer).

Usage Note

Cantautore is an Italian coinage that blends cantante (singer) and autore (author/composer). The feminine form is cantautrice. The term carries a particular cultural weight in Italy — the cantautore tradition (Fabrizio De André, Paolo Conte, Lucio Battisti) is central to Italian popular music. The plural is cantautori (m) / cantautrici (f).

Examples

"È considerato il più grande cantautore italiano del Novecento."

Natural Translation

He is considered the greatest Italian singer-songwriter of the twentieth century.

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