# Canton
## English
### Etymology 1

From Portuguese Cantão, from Mandarin 廣東 / 广东 (Guǎngdōng). Doublet of Guangdong. Compare Spanish Cantón, French Canton, Italian Canton, Russian Кантон (Kanton).

#### Pronunciation

* enPR: kǎnʹtǒnʹ, IPA: /ˌkænˈtɒn/, /ˈkænˌtɒn/

#### Proper noun

Canton
* Several places in China:
** Guangzhou, the capital and largest city of Guangdong, China.
*** 1693, Robert Morden, “Of China”, in Geography Rectified; or a Description of the World‎, 3rd edition, →OCLC, pages 441–442:The Province of Quantung lies along upon the Sea-ſhore, having many convenient Havens and Harbors ; it contains ten Counties, and eighty great and ſmall Cities. Quancheu, or Canton by the Portugals, is the Metropolis and chief of the Province ; exceedingly beautified with Pagodes, Palaces, ſtately Structures, and Triumphal Arches ; fortified with ſtrong Walls, Towers, Bulwarks and Redoubts, defended by five Caſtles.
*** 1771, Encyclopaedia Britannica, 1st ed., Vol. II, p. 28:
    Canton is alſo the name of a large, populous, and wealthy city and port-town of China, ſituated on the river Ta, about fifty miles from the Indian ocean... It is a fortified place, within the walls of which no Chriſtians are permitted to enter, notwithſtanding their great trade thither; it being from thence that they import all manner of Chineſe goods, as china-ware, tea, cabinets, raw and wrought ſilks, gold-duſt, &c.
*** 1895, Rosswell Hobart Graves, Forty Years in China: Or, China in Transition‎, Baltimore: R. H. Woodward Company, pages 14–15:Though much of the mountain land is still in forest and not occupied by man, the fertile valleys and extended plains are very thickly settled, so that China’s population to the square mile is very great. The most populous city is probably Canton, with a million and a half inhabitants, then comes Peking, the capital, and other seaports and centers of population, as Shanghai, Foochow, Han-kow, etc.
*** 1920, Cades Alfred Middleton Smith, The British in China and Far Eastern Trade‎, London: Constable & Co. Ltd., page 23:The earliest pioneer of British free trade in Canton was Mr. William Jardine, founder of the still flourishing firm of Jardine, Matheson, and Co., who visited China off and on between the years 1802 and 1818, and resided in Canton continuously from 1820 to January 31, 1839.
*** 1938, Robert Berkov, Strong Man of China: The Story of Chiang Kai-shek‎, Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, page 49:Four days later Chiang Kai-shek, now commander-in-chief of the garrisons in Canton, was in full control of the city. The left wing of the Kuomintang was firmly established in power, and Chiang was its acknowledged head.
*** 1974, J. Roby Kidd, Whilst Time is Burning‎, International Development Research Centre, page 51:In China, a combination of television, radio, posters, inexpensive print is used with great effectiveness as reenforcement for programs to teach Mandarin Chinese. I have observed this admirable program in Canton.
*** 1979 May 6, “Human rights group”, in Free China Weekly‎, volume XX, number 17, Taipei, page 3:A handbill strongly condemning Teng Hsiao-ping was circulated in Kwangtung early last month by a human rights group based in Fushan near Canton according to an intelligence report.
*** 2007, Ronald Findlay, Kevin H. O'Rourke, Power and Plenty‎, Princeton University Press, page 173:Chinese traders, mostly from the southern ports of Amoy (Hsia-men) and Canton, took raw silk, fabrics, and apparel to Manila, where these cargoes were sold for silver and carried back for sale in the New World.
*** 2013, David Mayers, FDR's Ambassadors and the Diplomacy of Crisis‎, Cambridge University Press, →ISBN, page 22:He consequently denounced the naval and air assaults on Shanghai, the injuries visited upon Nanjing, and later (June 1938) the aerial bombardment of Canton.
*** For more quotations using this term, see Citations:Canton.
** Guangdong, a province of China.
*** 1721, John Senex, A New General Atlas, Containing A Geographical And Historical Account Of All The Empires, Kingdoms And Other Dominions Of The World‎, London, →OCLC, page 216:XVIII. Quanton, or Canton, lies Eaſt and South from Quanſi, and is the moſt Southern Province of the Empire. Nieuhoff ſays, here are ſeveral ſafe Harbours and Roads, that it produces all Neceſſaries for Life, and has two Harveſts a year. Their Winter is very warm, and their Fields always verdant.
*** 1830, Reports from the Select Committee of the House of Commons Appointed to Enquire Into the Present State of the Affairs of the East-India Company‎, London, page 29:The black tea imported by the East-India Company is grown and manufactured in the province of Fokien, with the exception of about one-third of that sort called by us bohea, which third part is produced in the north-eastern corner of the province of Canton, in a district called Wo-Ping, which gives its name to the tea in question.
*** 1861, W. Dickson, “Narrative of an overland trip, through Hunan, from Canton to Hankow”, in Journal of the North-China Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society‎, number 1, Shanghai, published 1865, page 161:MANY travellers have passed up the Canton river, and by the way of Nanhiung, over the Meiling Pass and across the Poyang Lake, reached the Yangtsze Kiang through the province of Kiangsi; while very few have reached the same Great River through the province of Hunan, across the Tungting Lake and over the same range of hills, further west, by way of Loh-chang in the province of Canton.
*** 1867, E. J. Eitel, “Ethnographic Sketches of the Hak-Ka Chinese”, in N. D. Dennys, editor, Notes and Queries on China and Japan‎, volume 1, number 5, Hongkong: Charles A. Saint, page 50:If we look at the map of Canton Province, we observe in the eastern corner the Ch'aou-chow department, with its nine districts. One of them, the Ta-pu district, is throughout inhabited by Hak-kas, the rest by Hok-los.
** (with the, dated) The Pearl River, a river in southern China.

##### Derived terms

* Cantonese
* Canton flannel
* Canton Jargon
* Canton lemon

##### Translations
### Etymology 2

The town in Oklahoma was named for a nearby cantonment.

#### Pronunciation

* (most places) IPA: /ˈkæntən/

#### Proper noun

Canton
* A hamlet in Ontario, Canada.
* Several places in the United States:
** A former settlement in El Dorado County, California.
** A town in Hartford County, Connecticut.
** A city, the county seat of Cherokee County, Georgia.
** A city in Fulton County, Illinois.
** An unincorporated community in Washington Township, Washington County, Indiana.
** An unincorporated community in Jackson County and Jones County, Iowa.
** A small city in McPherson County, Kansas; named for the city in Ohio.
** A small town in Oxford County, Maine; named for the town in Massachusetts.
** A neighborhood of Baltimore, Maryland.
** A town in Norfolk County, Massachusetts.
** A township in Wayne County, Michigan.
** A tiny city in Fillmore County, Minnesota; named for the city in Ohio.
** A city, the county seat of Madison County, Mississippi.
** A small city in Lewis County, Missouri; named for the city in Ohio.
** A submerged ghost town in Broadwater County, Montana.
** An unincorporated community in Lower Alloways Creek Township, Salem County, New Jersey.
** A town and village in St. Lawrence County, New York; the village is the county seat.
** A town in Haywood County, North Carolina; named for the city in Ohio.
** A city, the county seat of Stark County, Ohio.
** A small town in Blaine County, Oklahoma.
** A borough of Bradford County, Pennsylvania; named for the town in Massachusetts.
** A city, the county seat of Lincoln County, South Dakota.
** A city, the county seat of Van Zandt County, Texas.
** An unincorporated community in Doddridge County, West Virginia.
** A small town in Buffalo County, Wisconsin.
** An unincorporated community in Barron County, Wisconsin.

### Etymology 3

From Canna +‎ -ton, literally “St. Canna's town”.

#### Proper noun

Canton
* An inner city district and community of Cardiff, Wales (OS grid ref ST1676).

##### Translations
### Etymology 4

The surname is of French or Galician origin.

#### Proper noun

Canton
* A topographical surname from French.

### Further reading

* “Canton”, in Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster, 1996–present.
* “Canton” in TheFreeDictionary.com, Huntingdon Valley, Pa.: Farlex, Inc., 2003–2024.

### See also

* Canton matting

### Anagrams

* Conant, Nacton, cannot, nonact, noncat

## French
### Alternative forms

* (city): (obsolete) Quangtung, Quanton, (obsolete) [Term?]

### Etymology

Borrowed from Portuguese Cantão, from Mandarin 廣東 / 广东 (Guǎngdōng).

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /kɑ̃.tɔ̃/
* Homophones: canton, cantons

### Proper noun

Canton f
* Synonym of Guangzhou (The capital and largest city of Guangdong, China)

### Proper noun

le Canton m
* Obsolete form of Guangdong.

#### Usage notes

Although "Canton" may be dated in English, it is still current for the city in French.

#### Derived terms

* cantonais

## Italian
### Etymology 1

Borrowed from Portuguese Cantão, from Mandarin 廣東 / 广东 (Guǎngdōng).

#### Alternative forms

* Guangdong (province only)

#### Pronunciation

* IPA: /kanˈtɔn/
* Rhymes: -ɔn
* Hyphenation: Can‧tòn

#### Proper noun

Canton f
* Guangzhou (the capital and largest city of Guangdong, China)
* Guangdong (a province of China)

##### Derived terms

* cantonese

### Etymology 2

Borrowed from English Canton.

#### Pronunciation

* IPA: /ˈkɛn.ton/
* Rhymes: -ɛnton
* Hyphenation: Càn‧ton

#### Proper noun

Canton ?
* A hamlet in Ontario, Canada
* A city, the county seat of Stark County, Ohio
* several other places in the United States:
** A former settlement in El Dorado County, California
** A town in Hartford County, Connecticut
** A city, the county seat of Cherokee County, Georgia
** A city in Fulton County, Illinois
** An unincorporated community in Washington Township, Washington County, Indiana
** An unincorporated community in Jackson County and Jones County, Iowa
** A small city in McPherson County, Kansas
** A small town in Oxford County, Maine
** A neighborhood of Baltimore, Maryland
** A town in Norfolk County, Massachusetts
** A township in Wayne County, Michigan
** A tiny city in Fillmore County, Minnesota
** A city, the county seat of Madison County, Mississippi
** A small city in Lewis County, Missouri
** A submerged ghost town in Broadwater County, Montana
** An unincorporated community in Lower Alloways Creek Township, Salem County, New Jersey
** A town and village in St. Lawrence County, New York
** A town in Haywood County, North Carolina
** A small town in Blaine County, Oklahoma
** A borough of Bradford County, Pennsylvania
** A city, the county seat of Lincoln County, South Dakota
** A city, the county seat of Van Zandt County, Texas
** An unincorporated community in Doddridge County, West Virginia
** A small town in Buffalo County, Wisconsin
** An unincorporated community in Barron County, Wisconsin
* An inner city district and community of Cardiff, Wales (OS grid ref ST1676)
* A surname in English

### References

* 1 2 Canton in Luciano Canepari, Dizionario di Pronuncia Italiana (DiPI)