canton

English

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canton

Wikipedia

Etymology 1

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

Alternative forms

• kanton

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈkæntn̩/
• IPA^(key): /ˈkæntɒn/ (especially in the flag sense)

• Audio (Southern England)

  (file)

Noun

canton (plural cantons)

2. A division of a political unit.
   • 1912, Joseph McCabe (translator), We Must Take Sides; or, The Principal 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.

   2. One of the states comprising the Swiss Confederation.
   3. A subdivision of an arrondissement of France.
   4. A division of Luxembourg, Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, etc.
   5. (obsolete) A subdivision of a county, of Quebec, Canada; equivalent to a township.
3. A small community or clan.
4. 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).
6. (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.
   • 1662 August 31 (Gregorian calendar), John Evelyn, “”, 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:

     The king gave us the arms of England to be borne in a canton in our arms.

Translations

Verb

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 allot quarters to troops.

Etymology 2

Noun

canton (plural cantons)

1. (obsolete) A song or canto.
   • 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 Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, :

     He came to whisper Wolsey.

See also

• pancit canton

Anagrams

• Conant, Nacton, cannot, nonact, noncat

French

Etymology

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 -ō (accusative -ōnem) suffix forming augmentatives in Romance.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /kɑ̃.tɔ̃/

• Audio (Paris)

  (file)

• Audio

  (file)

Noun

canton m (plural cantons)

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

Descendants

• → German: Kanton

Further reading

• “canton”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé , 2012.

Occitan

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /kanˈtu/

• (file)

Noun

canton m (plural cantons)

1. corner
2. canton

Derived terms

• cantonal
• cantonar
• cantonada

Romanian

Etymology

Borrowed from French canton.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /kanˈton/

Noun

canton n (plural cantoane)

1. canton

Declension

Derived terms

• cantonal

Further reading

• canton in DEX online—Dicționare ale limbii române (Dictionaries of the Romanian language)

Venetian

Noun

canton m (plural cantoni)

1. corner

Derived terms

• cantonzsin