canton

Can·ton

any of the political divisions of certain countries or territories; specif.,
1. any of the main divisions of Switzerland
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 of canton

French from Italian cantone from Late Latin cantus: see cant

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

Canton

Guangzhou

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MLA Style

"canton." YourDictionary, n.d. Web. 22 January 2019. <https://www.yourdictionary.com/Canton>.

APA Style

canton. (n.d.). Retrieved January 22nd, 2019, from https://www.yourdictionary.com/Canton

canton

noun

a. A small territorial division of a country, especially one of the states of Switzerland.
b. A subdivision of an arrondissement in France.
Heraldry A small, square division of a shield, usually in the upper right corner.
A usually rectangular division of a flag, occupying the upper corner next to the staff.

Origin of canton

French from Old French from Old Italian cantone augmentative of canto corner from Vulgar Latin cantus ; see cant ¹.

Related Forms:

can′ton·al
adjective

Canton

A city of northeast Ohio south-southeast of Akron. It was the home of President William McKinley.x
See Guangzhou.

THE AMERICAN HERITAGE® DICTIONARY OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE, FIFTH EDITION by the Editors of the American Heritage Dictionaries. Copyright © 2016, 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

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Link to this page

Cite this page

MLA Style

"canton." YourDictionary, n.d. Web. 22 January 2019. <https://www.yourdictionary.com/Canton>.

APA Style

canton. (n.d.). Retrieved January 22nd, 2019, from https://www.yourdictionary.com/Canton

Noun

(plural cantons)

A division of a political unit.
1. One of the states comprising the Swiss Confederation.
2. A subdivision of an arrondissement of France.
3. A division of Luxembourg, Bosnia and Herzegovina, etc.
A small community or clan.
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).
(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.

Verb

(third-person singular simple present cantons, present participle cantoning, simple past and past participle cantoned)

To delineate as a separate district.

Origin

From Old French canton (“corner”).

Noun

(plural cantons)

(obsolete) A song or canto.

Anagrams

cannot, noncat

Proper noun

(historical) The Chinese city of Guangzhou
(historical) The Chinese province of Guangdong.

Proper noun

A topographical surname of French or Galician derivation.

English Wiktionary. Available under CC-BY-SA license.

Link/Cite

Link to this page

Cite this page

MLA Style

"canton." YourDictionary, n.d. Web. 22 January 2019. <https://www.yourdictionary.com/Canton>.

APA Style

canton. (n.d.). Retrieved January 22nd, 2019, from https://www.yourdictionary.com/Canton

canton

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Canton

canton

Canton

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