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Canton
Definitions
- 1 Several places in China:; Guangzhou, the capital and largest city of Guangdong, China.
"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."
- 2 A hamlet in Ontario, Canada.
- 3 An inner city district and community in Cardiff, Wales (OS grid ref ST1676).
- 4 A topographical surname from French.
- 5 Several places in China:; Guangdong, a province of China.
"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."
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- 6 Several places in the United States:; A former settlement in El Dorado County, California.
- 7 Several places in China:; The Pearl River, a river in southern China. dated
- 8 Several places in the United States:; A town in Hartford County, Connecticut.
- 9 Several places in the United States:; A city, the county seat of Cherokee County, Georgia.
- 10 Several places in the United States:; A city in Fulton County, Illinois.
- 11 Several places in the United States:; An unincorporated community in Washington Township, Washington County, Indiana.
- 12 Several places in the United States:; An unincorporated community in Jackson County and Jones County, Iowa.
- 13 Several places in the United States:; A small city in McPherson County, Kansas; named for the city in Ohio.
- 14 Several places in the United States:; A small town in Oxford County, Maine; named for the town in Massachusetts.
- 15 Several places in the United States:; A neighborhood of Baltimore, Maryland.
- 16 Several places in the United States:; A town in Norfolk County, Massachusetts.
- 17 Several places in the United States:; A township in Wayne County, Michigan.
- 18 Several places in the United States:; A tiny city in Fillmore County, Minnesota; named for the city in Ohio.
- 19 Several places in the United States:; A city, the county seat of Madison County, Mississippi.
- 20 Several places in the United States:; A small city in Lewis County, Missouri; named for the city in Ohio.
- 21 Several places in the United States:; A submerged ghost town in Broadwater County, Montana.
- 22 Several places in the United States:; An unincorporated community in Lower Alloways Creek Township, Salem County, New Jersey.
- 23 Several places in the United States:; A town and village in St. Lawrence County, New York; the village is the county seat.
- 24 Several places in the United States:; A town in Haywood County, North Carolina; named for the city in Ohio.
- 25 Several places in the United States:; A city, the county seat of Stark County, Ohio.
- 26 Several places in the United States:; A small town in Blaine County, Oklahoma.
- 27 Several places in the United States:; A borough of Bradford County, Pennsylvania; named for the town in Massachusetts.
- 28 Several places in the United States:; A city, the county seat of Lincoln County, South Dakota.
- 29 Several places in the United States:; A city, the county seat of Van Zandt County, Texas.
- 30 Several places in the United States:; An unincorporated community in Doddridge County, West Virginia.
- 31 Several places in the United States:; A small town in Buffalo County, Wisconsin.
- 32 Several places in the United States:; An unincorporated community in Barron County, Wisconsin.
- 1 A division of a political unit.
"These three millions live in a small canton of Egypt which cannot maintain twenty thousand people"
- 2 A song or canto. obsolete
"Write loyal cantons of contemnèd love / And sing them loud even in the dead of night."
- 3 a small administrative division of a country wordnet
- 4 A division of a political unit.; One of the states comprising the Swiss Confederation.
- 5 A division of a political unit.; An administrative division within a department in France, often being a subdivision of an arrondissement.
"According to a peasant novelist from the Bourbonnais, this was just as true in the 1840s as it was before the Revolution: "We had not the slightest notion of the outside world. Beyond the limits of the canton, and beyond the known distances, lay mysterious lands that were thought to be dangerous and inhabited by barbarians.""
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- 6 A division of a political unit.; A division of Luxembourg, Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, etc.
- 7 A division of a political unit.; A subdivision of a county, of Quebec, Canada; equivalent to a township. obsolete
- 8 A small community or clan.
- 9 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).
- 10 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.
"The king gave us the arms of England to be borne in a canton in our arms."
- 1 To delineate as a separate district. transitive
- 2 divide into cantons, of a country wordnet
- 3 To divide into cantons. transitive
- 4 provide housing for (military personnel) wordnet
- 5 To quarter troops by requisitioning housing from the civilian population. transitive
"To the end of husbanding the supplies, he will cause to be cantoned in the cities and villages the greatest possible numbers of troops"
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- 6 To be allotted such quarters. intransitive
"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
1530s, from Middle French canton, from Old French canton (“corner”); heraldic sense from the 1570s, geographic sense from c. 1600.
1530s, from Middle French canton, from Old French canton (“corner”); heraldic sense from the 1570s, geographic sense from c. 1600.
From Portuguese Cantão, from Mandarin 廣東 /广东 (Guǎngdōng). Doublet of Guangdong. Compare Spanish Cantón, French Canton, Italian Canton, Russian Кантон (Kanton).
The town in Oklahoma was named for a nearby cantonment.
From Canna + -ton, literally “St. Canna's town”.
The surname is of French or Galician origin.
See also for "canton"
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Unscramble this word: canton