# canton
## English
### 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: /ˈkæntən/
* IPA: /ˈkæntɒn/ (especially in the flag sense)
* Audio (Southern England):(file)

#### Noun

canton (plural cantons)
* A division of a political unit.
** 1912, Joseph McCabe (translator), We Must Take Sides; or, The Principle 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.
** One of the states comprising the Swiss Confederation.
** A subdivision of an arrondissement of France.
** A division of Luxembourg, Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, etc.
** (obsolete) A subdivision of a county, of Quebec, Canada; equivalent to a township.
* A small community or clan.
* A subdivision of a flag, the rectangular inset on the upper hoist (i.e., flagpole) side, the upper-left quadrant of a flag, (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.
** 1662 August 31 (Gregorian calendar), John Evelyn, “[Diary entry for 21 August 1662]”, 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.

##### Derived terms

* cantoner
* cantonise
* cantonize
* canton of Zurich

##### Translations
#### Verb

canton (third-person singular simple present cantons, present participle cantoning, simple past and past participle cantoned)
* (transitive) To delineate as a separate district.
* (transitive) To divide into cantons.
* (transitive) To quarter troops by requisitioning housing from the civilian population.
** 1854, O. F. Winship, E. E. McLean (translators), Summary of the Art of War (originally by Antoine-Henri Jomini)
    To the end of husbanding the supplies, he will cause to be cantoned in the cities and villages the greatest possible numbers of troops
* (intransitive) To be allotted such quarters.
** 1854, O. F. Winship, E. E. McLean (translators), Summary of the Art of War (originally by Antoine-Henri Jomini)
    An army, falling back upon its lines of magazines, may [...] make its retreat with more security than one which has to canton, to subsist, and to extend itself to find cantonments.

### Etymology 2
#### Noun

canton (plural cantons)
* (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[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene v]:Write loyal cantons of contemnèd love / And sing them loud even in the dead of night.

### 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: /kɑ̃.tɔ̃/
* Audio (Paris):(file)
* Audio:(file)

### Noun

canton m (plural cantons)
* canton (of Switzerland, France or Luxembourg)
* township (of Canada)
* (heraldry) canton

#### Descendants

* → German: Kanton

### Further reading

* “canton”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

## Occitan
### Etymology

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

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /kanˈtu/
* Audio:(file)

### Noun

canton m (plural cantons)
* corner
* canton

#### Derived terms

* cantonal
* cantonar
* cantonada

## Romanian
### Etymology

Borrowed from French canton.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /kanˈton/

### Noun

canton n (plural cantoane)
* canton

#### Derived terms

* cantonal

### Further reading

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

## Venetan
### Noun

canton m (plural cantoni)
* corner

#### Derived terms

* cantonzsin