chanticleer

noun

chan·​ti·​cleer ˌchan-tə-ˈklir 

ˌshan-

chiefly literary

: rooster

… now that that antisocial chanticleer has bitten the dust, the henhouse is as gentle and peaceful as a nunnery …

—Science 83

—typically used like a proper name

… to brag as lustily as chanticleer in the morning, standing on his roost, if only to wake my neighbors up.

—Henry David Thoreau

As to poor Crusoe in the self-same sea, no saint's bell pealed forth the lapse of week or month; each day went by unchallenged; no chanticleer announced those sultry dawns, no lowing herds those poisonous nights.

—Herman Melville

Word History

Etymology

Middle English Chantecleer, rooster in verse narratives, from Old French Chantecler, rooster in the Roman de Renart

First Known Use

14th century, in the meaning defined above

Kids Definition

chanticleer

noun

chan·​ti·​cleer ˌchant-ə-ˈkli(ə)r 

ˌshant-

: rooster