CANTON • DICTIONARY ONE.COM • Definition of Canton

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/kˈæntən/ Listen

noun

Canton n. A song or canto (Obs.) "Write loyal cantons of contemned love."

Canton n.

A small portion; a division; a compartment. "That little canton of land called the "English pale"" "There is another piece of Holbein's,... in which, in six several cantons, the several parts of our Savior's passion are represented."

A small community or clan.

A small territorial district; esp. one of the twenty-two independent states which form the Swiss federal republic; in France, a subdivision of an arrondissement. See Arrondissement.

(Her.) A division of a shield occupying one third part of the chief, usually on the dexter side, formed by a perpendicular line from the top of the shield, meeting a horizontal line from the side. "The king gave us the arms of England to be borne in a canton in our arms."

verb

Canton v. i. (past & past part. cantoned; pres. part. cantoning)

To divide into small parts or districts; to mark off or separate, as a distinct portion or division. "They canton out themselves a little Goshen in the intellectual world."

(Mil.) To allot separate quarters to, as to different parts or divisions of an army or body of troops.

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Etymology of 'Canton'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Canton" Quotes from Famous Books

... coil to replace the one you lost the night of the storm, and there I saw Michael Heavens of this place, who is a salesman there. He told me that Abel Behenna had come home the week ere last on the Star of the Sea from Canton, and that he had lodged a sight of money in the Bristol Bank in the name of Sarah Behenna. He told Michael so himself—and that he had taken passage on the Lovely Alice to Pencastle. 'Bear up, man,' for Eric had with a groan dropped his head on his knees, ...

— Dracula's Guest • Bram Stoker

... done. The cavalry passed first, but could not come up with the enemy till five in the evening, upon the hills of Eckersberg. It was then too late to force them there, for which reason the king thought proper to canton his army in the nearest villages, and to be satisfied with the success his hussars had in taking near three hundred baggage waggons, and every thing they contained. The whole loss of the Prussians in this important engagement, did not exceed ...

— The History of England in Three Volumes, Vol.II. - From William and Mary to George II. • Tobias Smollett

... Blair said, grinding his teeth, "I could—swear! She takes the roof off." He grew hot with shame when Mrs. Richie, whom he admired profoundly, came to take supper with his mother at the office table with its odds and ends of china. (As the old Canton dinner service had broken and fire- cracked, Harris had replenished the shelves of the china-closet according to his own taste limited by Mrs. Maitland's economic orders.) Blair found everything hideous, or vulgar, or uncomfortable, and he said ...

— The Iron Woman • Margaret Deland

... piece of Canton flannel, and the shears, and put them into my hands, saying that I might make two pairs of night-trowsers for the baby. My heart sank within me in a moment. I made a desperate effort to collect myself, however, and quietly asked if she had ...

— A Woman who went to Alaska • May Kellogg Sullivan

... the same shade as the sky, rose the White Cloud Hills; lesser hills more distinct in waving outline lay before them; then rocky promontories and islands with grotesque forms like the twisted dragons of Chinese embroideries, and the low stretch which marked the position of the wonderful city of Canton. On the yellow water here and there were junks with tanned sails and gay banners; islands with graceful pagodas were seen, and the huge white cathedral of the near dependency of Taipa. Then in the foreground at their very feet was Macao, a ...

— In Macao • Charles A. Gunnison

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