canton

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See also: cantón, Canton, and Cantón

English

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English Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia

Etymology 1

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1530s, from Middle French canton, from Old French canton (corner); heraldic sense from the 1570s, geographic sense from c. 1600.

Alternative forms

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Pronunciation

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  • IPA(key): /ˈkæntən/
  • IPA(key): /ˈkæntɒn/ (especially in the flag sense)
  • Audio (Southern England):(file)

Noun

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canton (plural cantons)

  1. A division of a political unit.
    • 1912, Joseph McCabe (translator), We Must Take Sides; or, The Principle of Action (originally by Voltaire)
      These three millions live in a small canton of Egypt which cannot maintain twenty thousand people
    • 20 May, 1686, Gilbert Burnet, letter from Nimmengen
      There is another piece of Holbein's, [] in which, in six several cantons, the several parts of our Saviour's passion are represented.
    1. One of the states comprising the Swiss Confederation.
    2. A subdivision of an arrondissement of France.
    3. A division of Luxembourg, Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, etc.
    4. (obsolete) A subdivision of a county, of Quebec, Canada; equivalent to a township.
  2. A small community or clan.
  3. A subdivision of a flag, the rectangular inset on the upper hoist (i.e., flagpole) side (e.g., the stars of the US national flag are in a canton).
  4. (heraldry) A division of a shield occupying one third of the chief, usually on the dexter side, formed by a perpendicular line from the top meeting a horizontal line from the side.
Derived terms
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Translations
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Verb

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canton (third-person singular simple present cantons, present participle cantoning, simple past and past participle cantoned)

  1. (transitive) To delineate as a separate district.
  2. (transitive) To divide into cantons.
  3. (transitive) To quarter troops by requisitioning housing from the civilian population.
    • 1854, O. F. Winship, E. E. McLean (translators), Summary of the Art of War (originally by Antoine-Henri Jomini)
      To the end of husbanding the supplies, he will cause to be cantoned in the cities and villages the greatest possible numbers of troops
  4. (intransitive) To be allotted such quarters.
    • 1854, O. F. Winship, E. E. McLean (translators), Summary of the Art of War (originally by Antoine-Henri Jomini)
      An army, falling back upon its lines of magazines, may [...] make its retreat with more security than one which has to canton, to subsist, and to extend itself to find cantonments.

Etymology 2

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Noun

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canton (plural cantons)

  1. (obsolete) A song or canto.

See also

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Anagrams

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French

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Etymology

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Inherited from Middle French canton, from Old French canton (from the 1240s), from Old Occitan canton (corner; canton) (recorded before 1218), adopted in Occitan from North Italian (Gallo-Italic, early Lombard) cantone (edge, corner; canton), ultimately representing Latin cant- (rim (of a wheel)) with the addition of the (accusative -ōnem) suffix forming augmentatives in Romance.

Pronunciation

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Noun

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canton m (plural cantons)

  1. canton (of Switzerland, France or Luxembourg)
  2. township (of Canada)
  3. (heraldry) canton

Descendants

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  • German: Kanton

Further reading

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Occitan

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Etymology

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From Gallo-Italic cantone. From canto + -one. Related to Latin canthus (rim (of a wheel)).

Pronunciation

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Noun

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canton m (plural cantons)

  1. corner
  2. canton

Derived terms

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Romanian

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Etymology

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Borrowed from French canton.

Pronunciation

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Noun

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canton n (plural cantoane)

  1. canton

Declension

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Derived terms

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Further reading

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Venetan

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Noun

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canton m (plural cantoni)

  1. corner

Derived terms

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