canton

(kantən, -tän′; kan tän; for vt. 2 kan tän, -tōn & Brit, kən to̵̅o̅n)

noun

  1. any of the political divisions of a country or territory; specif.,
    1. any of the states in the Swiss Republic
    2. a division of an arrondissement in France
    1. Heraldry a small, square section of a shield, usually in the upper dexter corner
    2. a rectangular section in a flag, in the upper corner nearest the staff

Origin: Fr < It cantone < LL cantus: see cant

transitive verb

  1. to divide into cantons
  2. to assign quarters to (troops, etc.); quarter

Related Forms:

  1. Guangzhou
  2. Origin: after Canton, suburb of Boston, named for the Chinese city

    city in EC Ohio: pop. 81,000

See canton in American Heritage Dictionary 4

noun
  1. a. A small territorial division of a country, especially one of the states of Switzerland.
    b. 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.

Origin:

Origin: French

Origin: , from Old French

Origin: , from Old Italian cantone

Origin: , augmentative of canto, corner

Origin: , from Vulgar Latin *cantus; see cant1

.

Related Forms:

  • canˈton·al (kănˈtə-nəl, kăn-tŏnˈəl) adjective

  1. A city of northeast Ohio south-southeast of Akron. It was the home of President William McKinley. Population: 78,900.
  2. (kănˈtŏnˌ, kănˌtŏnˈ) See Guangzhou.

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