Driving back to school today I saw a license plate with this message: I-CANTU. In Latin the word cantus, cantūs m. means "song," and in the ablative singular form, cantū, it means "by, with, or from a song." So could this license plate mean "I (exist) (because of/by) song"? Or perhaps "I (am) with song"? Or possibly "#1: by song"? More likely: "I can, too"! But I do wonder what it is I can do, don't you?
The Latin verb canō, canere, cecinī, cantum means "I sing," and it is one of the opening words of Vergil's great epic poem, the Aeneid. The poem begins, "Arma virumque canō: I sing of arms and a man/hero." In English from this Latin verb we have the words canticle, a song or hymn and cantor, a religious official who sings or chants prayers in a synagogue.
Probably only the author of the license plate knows the truth, but I can try, too.
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