Dictionary

canton en · NOUN · etymology 1

Pronunciation

• /ˈkæntən/
• (Southern-England) audio
• /ˈkæntɒn/

Etymology

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

Meanings

1. A division of a political unit.
   • 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.
   • These three millions live in a small canton of Egypt which cannot maintain twenty thousand people 1912, Joseph McCabe (translator), We Must Take Sides; or, The Principle of Action (originally by Voltaire)
2. A division of a political unit. ▸ One of the states comprising the Swiss Confederation.
3. A division of a political unit. ▸ An administrative division within a department in France, often being a subdivision of an arrondissement.
   • According to a peasant novelist from the Bourbonnais, this was just as true in the 1840s as it was before the Revolution: "We had not the slightest notion of the outside world. Beyond the limits of the canton, and beyond the known distances, lay mysterious lands that were thought to be dangerous and inhabited by barbarians." 2007, Graham Robb, quoting an unnamed writer, “Chapter 2: The Tribes of France, I”, in The Discovery of France: A Historical Geography, W.W. Norton and Company, →ISBN, page 44:
4. A division of a political unit. ▸ A division of Luxembourg, Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, etc.
5. (obsolete) A division of a political unit. ▸ A subdivision of a county, of Quebec, Canada; equivalent to a township.
6. A small community or clan.
7. A subdivision of a flag, the rectangular inset on the upper hoist (i.e., flagpole) side, the upper-left quadrant of a flag, (the stars of the US national flag are in a canton).
8. 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.
   • The king gave us the arms of England to be borne in a canton in our arms. 1662 August 30 (Gregorian calendar), John Evelyn, “[Diary entry for 21 August 1662]”, in William Bray, editor, Memoirs, Illustrative of the Life and Writings of John Evelyn, […], 2nd edition, volume I, London: Henry Colburn, […]; and sold by John and Arthur Arch, […], published 1819, →OCLC:

Forms

Deriveds

cantoner · cantonise · canton of Zurich · cantonize

Translations (87)

rm cantun (state of Switzerland) · mk канто́н (state of Switzerland) · sv kanton (subdivision of Bosnia and Herzegovina) · nl kanton (subdivision of an arrondissement) · pl kanton (heraldry; one of the ordinaries) · de Kanton (subdivision of Serbia) · sh ugao (subdivision of flag) · mk канто́н (subdivision of flag) · rm cantung (state of Switzerland) · pl kanton (state of Switzerland) · de Kanton (subdivision of an arrondissement) · it cantone (heraldry; one of the ordinaries) · de Kanton (state of Switzerland) · nl kanton (state of Switzerland) · el καντόνι (state of Switzerland) · fr canton (subdivision of Serbia) · nl kanton (subdivision of Luxembourg) · fi kantoni (state of Switzerland) · hy կանտոն (state of Switzerland) · cs kanton (state of Switzerland) · nl kanton (subdivision of Bosnia and Herzegovina) · mk канто́н (subdivision of Luxembourg) · nl vrijkwartier (heraldry; one of the ordinaries) · fr canton (subdivision of Bosnia and Herzegovina) · la pāgus (state of Switzerland) · ko 주 (subdivision of Bosnia and Herzegovina) · ga cantún (subdivision of Serbia) · ko 주 (subdivision of Luxembourg) · fi piirikunta (state of Switzerland) · pt cantão (subdivision of an arrondissement) · ko 주 (subdivision of Serbia) · pt cantão (heraldry; one of the ordinaries) · he קנטון (state of Switzerland) · rm cantùn (state of Switzerland) · pt cantão (subdivision of Luxembourg) · hu kanton (state of Switzerland) · es cantón (subdivision of Luxembourg) · da kanton (state of Switzerland) · de Freiviertel (heraldry; one of the ordinaries) · is kantóna (subdivision of Luxembourg) · ga cantún (state of Switzerland) · de Kanton (subdivision of Luxembourg) · ru канто́н (subdivision of an arrondissement) · ko 주 (subdivision of an arrondissement) · mk канто́н (subdivision of an arrondissement) · fr canton (heraldry; one of the ordinaries) · fr canton (state of Switzerland) · es cantón (subdivision of flag) · pt cantão (subdivision of Serbia) · gl cantón (state of Switzerland) · mk канто́н (subdivision of Serbia) · it Canton (state of Switzerland) · eo kantono (subdivision of an arrondissement) · sv kanton (subdivision of Luxembourg) · de Kanton (subdivision of Bosnia and Herzegovina) · ga cantún (subdivision of Bosnia and Herzegovina) · fr canton (subdivision of an arrondissement) · pt cantão (state of Switzerland) · ru канто́н (state of Switzerland) · es cantón (heraldry; one of the ordinaries) · ga cantún (subdivision of Luxembourg) · lb Kanton (subdivision of Luxembourg) · ka კანტონი (state of Switzerland) · tt кантун (state of Switzerland) · nl kanton (subdivision of Serbia) · gv kerrin (subdivision of flag) · fi kolkka (heraldry; one of the ordinaries) · ca cantó (state of Switzerland) · ka კანტონი (subdivision of Luxembourg) · sv kanton (state of Switzerland) · it cantone (state of Switzerland) · sv kanton (subdivision of flag) · rm chantun (state of Switzerland) · es cantón (state of Switzerland) · sh kanton (subdivision of flag) · sv kanton (subdivision of an arrondissement) · ca cantó (heraldry; one of the ordinaries) · tr kanton (state of Switzerland) · pt cantão (subdivision of Bosnia and Herzegovina) · es cantón (subdivision of an arrondissement) · acw كانتون (state of Switzerland) · sv kanton (heraldry; one of the ordinaries) · is kantóna (state of Switzerland) · mk канто́н (subdivision of Bosnia and Herzegovina) · ga cúinneán (heraldry; one of the ordinaries) · ko 주 (state of Switzerland) · fr canton (subdivision of Luxembourg)

wikidata: Q2311958 · wikidata: Q2311958 · wikidata: Q2311958 · wikidata: Q1559605 · wikidata: Q2311958 · wikidata: Q23058 · wikidata: Q2311958

canton en · VERB · etymology 1

Pronunciation

• /ˈkæntən/
• (Southern-England) audio
• /ˈkæntɒn/

Etymology

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

Meanings

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.
   • To the end of husbanding the supplies, he will cause to be cantoned in the cities and villages the greatest possible numbers of troops 1854, O. F. Winship, E. E. McLean (translators), Summary of the Art of War (originally by Antoine-Henri Jomini)
4. (intransitive) To be allotted such quarters.
   • 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. 1854, O. F. Winship, E. E. McLean (translators), Summary of the Art of War (originally by Antoine-Henri Jomini)

Forms

canton en · NOUN · etymology 2

Meanings

1. (obsolete) A song or canto.
   • Write loyal cantons of contemnèd love / And sing them loud even in the dead of night. c. 1601–1602 (date written), William Shakespeare, “Twelfe Night, or What You Will”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene v]:

Forms

Relateds

pancit canton