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canton - 10 dictionary results
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can⋅ton

  [kan-tn, -ton, kan-ton for 1–7; kan-ton, -tohn--or, especially Brit., -toon for 8]
Use canton in a Sentence
–noun
1. a small territorial district, esp. one of the states of the Swiss confederation.
2. (in a department of France) a division of an arrondissement.
3. Heraldry. a square area in the dexter chief, or right-hand corner, of an escutcheon, often distinctively treated: a diminutive of the dexter chief quarter.
4. Architecture. a pilaster or similar feature projecting from the corner of a building.
5. Obsolete. a division, part, or portion of anything.
–verb (used with object)
6. to divide into parts or portions.
7. to divide into cantons or territorial districts.
8. to allot quarters to (soldiers, troops, etc.).
Origin:
1525–35; < MF < OPr, deriv. of can side, edge (see cant 2 )

Related forms:
can⋅ton⋅al, adjective
can⋅ton⋅al⋅ism, noun

Can⋅ton

  [kan-ton, kan-ton for 1; kan-tn for 2–5]
–noun
1. Also called Kwangchow, Guangzhou, Kuangchou. Older Spelling. a seaport in and the capital of Guangdong province, in SE China, on the Zhu Jiang. 3,000,000.
2. a city in NE Ohio: location of the football Hall of Fame. 94,730.
3. a city in E Massachusetts. 18,182.
4. a city in W central Illinois. 14,626.
5. a town in central Mississippi. 11,116.

Zhu Jiang

  [jy jyahng]
–noun Pinyin.
a river in SE China, in S Guangdong province, flowing E and S from Canton and forming an estuary near Hong Kong. ab. 110 mi. (177 km) long.
Also, Chu Kiang.
Also called Canton River, Pearl River.

Can⋅ton Riv⋅er

  [kan-ton] .
–noun
Zhu Jiang.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To canton
can·ton   (kān'tən, -tŏn')   
n.  
    1. A small territorial division of a country, especially one of the states of Switzerland.
    2. A subdivision of an arrondissement in France.
  2. Heraldry A small, square division of a shield, usually in the upper right corner.
  3. A usually rectangular division of a flag, occupying the upper corner next to the staff.

[French, from Old French, from Old Italian cantone, augmentative of canto, corner, from Vulgar Latin *cantus; see cant1.]
can'ton·al (kān'tə-nəl, kān-tŏn'əl) adj.
Can·ton   (kān'tən)   
  1. A city of northeast Ohio south-southeast of Akron. It was the home of President William McKinley. Population: 78,900.
  2. (kān'tŏn', kān'tŏn') See Guangzhou.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Cite This Source

Canton

Can"ton\, n. A song or canto [Obs.]

Write loyal cantons of contemned love. --Shak.

Canton

Can"ton\, n. [F. canton, augm. of OF. cant edge, corner. See 1st Cant.]

1. A small portion; a division; a compartment.

That little canton of land called the "English pale" --Davies.

There is another piece of Holbein's, . . . in which, in six several cantons, the several parts of our Savior's passion are represented. --Bp. Burnet.

2. A small community or clan.

3. A small territorial district; esp. one of the twenty-two independent states which form the Swiss federal republic; in France, a subdivision of an arrondissement. See Arrondissement.

4. (Her.) A division of a shield occupying one third part of the chief, usually on the dexter side, formed by a perpendicular line from the top of the shield, meeting a horizontal line from the side.

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

Canton

Can"ton\, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Cantoned; p. pr. & vb. n. Cantoning.] [Cf. F. cantonner.]

1. To divide into small parts or districts; to mark off or separate, as a distinct portion or division.

They canton out themselves a little Goshen in the intellectual world. --Locke.

2. (Mil.) To allot separate quarters to, as to different parts or divisions of an army or body of troops.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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canton 
1522, from M.Fr. canton, from It. (Lombard dialect) cantone "region," especially in the mountains, augmentive of L. canto "section of a country," lit. "corner" (see cant (2)). Originally in Eng. a term in heraldry and flag descriptions; applied to the sovereign states of the Swiss republic from 1611.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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