Canton en · PROPN · etymology 1
Pronunciation
Etymology
From Portuguese Cantão, from Mandarin 廣東 /广东 (Guǎngdōng). Doublet of Guangdong. Compare Spanish Cantón, French Canton, Italian Canton, Russian Кантон (Kanton). Unrelated to English canton.
Meanings
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Several places in China: ▸ Guangzhou, the capital and largest city of Guangdong, China.
The earliest pioneer of British free trade in Canton was Mr. William Jardine, founder of the still flourishing firm of Jardine, Matheson, and Co., who visited China off and on between the years 1802 and 1818, and resided in Canton continuously from 1820 to January 31, 1839.
1920, Cades Alfred Middleton Smith, The British in China and Far Eastern Trade, London: Constable & Co. Ltd., page 23:Canton is alſo the name of a large, populous, and wealthy city and port-town of China, ſituated on the river Ta, about fifty miles from the Indian ocean... It is a fortified place, within the walls of which no Chriſtians are permitted to enter, notwithſtanding their great trade thither; it being from thence that they import all manner of Chineſe goods, as china-ware, tea, cabinets, raw and wrought ſilks, gold-duſt, &c.
1771, Encyclopaedia Britannica, 1st ed., Vol. II, p. 28Chinese traders, mostly from the southern ports of Amoy (Hsia-men) and Canton, took raw silk, fabrics, and apparel to Manila, where these cargoes were sold for silver and carried back for sale in the New World.
2007, Ronald Findlay, Kevin H. O'Rourke, Power and Plenty, Princeton University Press, page 173:Though much of the mountain land is still in forest and not occupied by man, the fertile valleys and extended plains are very thickly settled, so that China’s population to the square mile is very great. The most populous city is probably Canton, with a million and a half inhabitants, then comes Peking, the capital, and other seaports and centers of population, as Shanghai, Foochow, Han-kow, etc.
1895, Rosswell Hobart Graves, Forty Years in China: Or, China in Transition, Baltimore: R. H. Woodward Company, pages 14–15:He consequently denounced the naval and air assaults on Shanghai, the injuries visited upon Nanjing, and later (June 1938) the aerial bombardment of Canton.
2013, David Mayers, FDR's Ambassadors and the Diplomacy of Crisis, Cambridge University Press, →ISBN, page 22:The Province of Quantung lies along upon the Sea-ſhore, having many convenient Havens and Harbors ; it contains ten Counties, and eighty great and ſmall Cities. Quancheu, or Canton by the Portugals, is the Metropolis and chief of the Province ; exceedingly beautified with Pagodes, Palaces, ſtately Structures, and Triumphal Arches ; fortified with ſtrong Walls, Towers, Bulwarks and Redoubts, defended by five Caſtles.
1693, Robert Morden, “Of China”, in Geography Rectified; or a Description of the World, 3rd edition, →OCLC, pages 441–442:A handbill strongly condemning Teng Hsiao-ping was circulated in Kwangtung early last month by a human rights group based in Fushan near Canton according to an intelligence report.
1979 May 6, “Human rights group”, in Free China Weekly, volume XX, number 17, Taipei, page 3:In China, a combination of television, radio, posters, inexpensive print is used with great effectiveness as reenforcement for programs to teach Mandarin Chinese. I have observed this admirable program in Canton.
1974, J. Roby Kidd, Whilst Time is Burning, International Development Research Centre, page 51:Four days later Chiang Kai-shek, now commander-in-chief of the garrisons in Canton, was in full control of the city. The left wing of the Kuomintang was firmly established in power, and Chiang was its acknowledged head.
1938, Robert Berkov, Strong Man of China: The Story of Chiang Kai-shek, Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, page 49:
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Several places in China: ▸ Guangdong, a province of China.
He left the junk at Shan-wei in the province of Canton, and from there took a boat which conveyed him to Macao.
1854, John Kesson, chapter XVI, in The Cross and the Dragon, or the Fortunes of Christianity in China: with notices of the Christian Missions and Missionaries, and some account of the Chinese secret societies, Smith, Elder, and Co., →OCLC, page 229:XVIII. Quanton, or Canton, lies Eaſt and South from Quanſi, and is the moſt Southern Province of the Empire. Nieuhoff ſays, here are ſeveral ſafe Harbours and Roads, that it produces all Neceſſaries for Life, and has two Harveſts a year. Their Winter is very warm, and their Fields always verdant.
1721, John Senex, A New General Atlas, Containing A Geographical And Historical Account Of All The Empires, Kingdoms And Other Dominions Of The World, London, →OCLC, page 216:The black tea imported by the East-India Company is grown and manufactured in the province of Fokien, with the exception of about one-third of that sort called by us bohea, which third part is produced in the north-eastern corner of the province of Canton, in a district called Wo-Ping, which gives its name to the tea in question.
1830, Reports from the Select Committee of the House of Commons Appointed to Enquire Into the Present State of the Affairs of the East-India Company, London, page 29:If we look at the map of Canton Province, we observe in the eastern corner the Ch'aou-chow department, with its nine districts. One of them, the Ta-pu district, is throughout inhabited by Hak-kas, the rest by Hok-los.
1867, E. J. Eitel, “Ethnographic Sketches of the Hak-Ka Chinese”, in N. D. Dennys, editor, Notes and Queries on China and Japan, volume 1, number 5, Hongkong: Charles A. Saint, page 50:MANY travellers have passed up the Canton river, and by the way of Nanhiung, over the Meiling Pass and across the Poyang Lake, reached the Yangtsze Kiang through the province of Kiangsi; while very few have reached the same Great River through the province of Hunan, across the Tungting Lake and over the same range of hills, further west, by way of Loh-chang in the province of Canton.
1861, W. Dickson, “Narrative of an overland trip, through Hunan, from Canton to Hankow”, in Journal of the North-China Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society, number 1, Shanghai, published 1865, page 161:
- (dated, with the) Several places in China: ▸ The Pearl River, a river in southern China.
Deriveds
Canton Jargon · Cantonese · Canton matting · Canton flannel · Canton lemon
Translations (44)
mn Гуандун (former name of Guangdong) · sv Kanton (former name of Guangdong) · ru Канто́н (former name of Guangdong) · ko 광주 (former name of Guangzhou) · fi Kanton (former name of Guangdong) · vi Quảng Đông (former name of Guangdong) · sv Guangdong (former name of Guangdong) · mnc ᡤᡠᠸᠠᠩᡩᡠᠩ (former name of Guangdong) · mn Гуанжоу (former name of Guangzhou) · vi Quảng Châu (former name of Guangzhou) · yue 廣州 /广州 (former name of Guangzhou) · cmn 廣東 /广东 (former name of Guangdong) · ja 広東 (former name of Guangdong) · hak 廣東 /广东 (former name of Guangdong) · mr कँटॉन (former name of Guangzhou) · el Καντόνα (former name of Guangzhou) · ja 広東省 (former name of Guangdong) · fa خانفو (former name of Guangzhou) · es Cantón (former name of Guangzhou) · yue 廣東 /广东 (former name of Guangdong) · nan-hbl 廣州 /广州 (former name of Guangzhou) · za Gvangjcouh (former name of Guangzhou) · pt Cantão (former name of Guangdong) · cdo 廣東 /广东 (former name of Guangdong) · ko 광둥성 (former name of Guangdong) · nan-hbl 廣東 /广东 (former name of Guangdong) · th กวางตุ้ง (former name of Guangdong) · mr कँटॉन (former name of Guangdong) · fr Canton (former name of Guangdong) · es Cantón (former name of Guangdong) · ja 広州市 (former name of Guangzhou) · ko 광둥 (former name of Guangdong) · ja 広州 (former name of Guangzhou) · km កាតាំង (former name of Guangdong) · ru Гуанчжо́у (former name of Guangzhou) · cmn 廣州 /广州 (former name of Guangzhou) · sv Guangzhou (former name of Guangzhou) · pt Cantão (former name of Guangzhou) · hak 廣州 /广州 (former name of Guangzhou) · cdo 廣州 /广州 (former name of Guangzhou) · fi Kanton (former name of Guangzhou) · fr Canton (former name of Guangzhou) · ru Гуанду́н (former name of Guangdong) · th กว่างโจว (former name of Guangzhou)