A small, roughly built house or cabin, often made of wood or corrugated metal; also a sailor's song.
From Canadian French 'chanté' (sung) or possibly from Irish 'sean-tígh' (old house). The sailor's song meaning comes from sailors singing work songs together. The 'ramshackle house' meaning became common in 19th-century America.
Shanties were crucial to seafaring culture—sailors sang work shanties to coordinate movement on ships, and the rhythm of their songs actually helped them haul ropes in unison! These songs survived on fishing ships well into the 1900s, and folk singers still preserve them.
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