different between canton vs county

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^(key): /?kæntn?/
• IPA^(key): /?kænt?n/ (especially in the flag sense)

Noun

canton (plural cantons)

2. A division of a political unit.
   • 1912, Joseph McCabe (translator), We Must Take Sides; or, The Principal 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

   2. One of the states comprising the Swiss Confederation.
   3. A subdivision of an arrondissement of France.
   4. A division of Luxembourg, Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, etc.
   5. (obsolete) A subdivision of a county, of Quebec, Canada; equivalent to a township.
3. A small community or clan.
4. A subdivision of a flag, the rectangular inset on the upper hoist (i.e., flagpole) side (e.g., the stars of the US national flag are in a canton).
6. (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.

Translations

Verb

canton (third-person singular simple present cantons, present participle cantoning, simple past and past participle cantoned)

1. (transitive) To delineate as a separate district.
2. (transitive) To divide into cantons.
3. (transitive) To allot quarters to troops.

Etymology 2

Noun

canton (plural cantons)

1. (obsolete) A song or canto.

Anagrams

• Conant, Nacton, cannot, noncat

French

Etymology

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 -? (accusative -?nem) suffix forming augmentatives in Romance.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /k??.t??/

Noun

canton m (plural cantons)

1. canton (of Switzerland, France or Luxembourg)
2. township (of Canada)
3. (heraldry) canton

Descendants

• ? German: Kanton

Further reading

• “canton” in Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).

Occitan

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /kan?tu/

Noun

canton m (plural cantons)

1. corner
2. canton

Derived terms

• cantonal
• cantonar
• cantonada

Romanian

Etymology

From French canton.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /kan?ton/

Noun

canton n (plural cantoane)

1. canton

Declension

Derived terms

• cantonal

Further reading

• canton in DEX online - Dic?ionare ale limbii române (Dictionaries of the Romanian language)

Venetian

Noun

canton m (plural cantoni)

1. corner

Derived terms

• cantonzsin

English

Etymology

From Middle English countee, counte, conte, from Anglo-Norman counté, Old French conté (French comté), from Latin comit?tus (“jurisdiction of a count”), from comes (“count, earl”). Cognate with Spanish condado (“county”). Doublet of comitatus, borrowed directly from Latin.

Pronunciation

• (General American, Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /?ka?nti/
• Rhymes: -a?nti

Noun

county (countable and uncountable, plural counties)

1. (historical) The land ruled by a count or a countess.
2. An administrative region of various countries, including Bhutan, Canada, China, Croatia, Ireland, Japan, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Romania, South Korea, Sweden, the United Kingdom, and 48 of the 50 United States (excluding Alaska and Louisiana).
3. A definitive geographic region, without direct administrative functions.

   traditional county

4. (US, slang, uncountable) A jail operated by a county government.

Usage notes

• In US usage, counties are almost always designated as such, with the word "County" capitalized and following the name — e.g., "Lewis County", rarely "Lewis", and never "County Lewis".
• In British and Irish usage, counties are referenced without designation — e.g. "Kent" and never "Kent County". Exceptions are; Durham, which is often "County Durham" (but never "Durham County"); and the counties of Ireland. An organisation such as Kent County Council is the "County Council" of "Kent" and not the "Council" of "Kent County".
• In Canadian usage, counties are typically designated as such, with the word "County" capitalized and usually preceding the name — e.g., "the County of Two Hills". Occasionally, "County" follows the name, as in "Sturgeon County".

Derived terms

Related terms

• count

Descendants

• ? German: County

Translations

See also

• shire

Adjective

county (comparative more county, superlative most county)

1. Characteristic of a ‘county family’; representative of the gentry or aristocracy of a county.
   • 1979, John Le Carré, Smiley's People, Folio Society 2010, p. 274:

     She was a tall girl and county, with Hilary's walk: she seemed to topple even when she sat.