canton

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   A division of a political unit.

   These three millions live in a small canton of Egypt which cannot maintain twenty thousand people.

2. 2
   noun

   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.

3. 3
   verb

   To quarter troops by requisitioning housing from the civilian population.

   To the end of husbanding the supplies, he will cause to be cantoned in the cities and villages the greatest possible numbers of troops.

4. 4
   verb

   To be allotted such quarters.

   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.

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

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