CANTON

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does Canton mean? 

• CANTON (noun)
  The noun CANTON has 2 senses:

1. a city on the Zhu Jiang delta in southern China; the capital of Guangdong province and a major deep-water port

2. a small administrative division of a country

  Familiarity information: CANTON used as a noun is rare.

• CANTON (verb)
  The verb CANTON has 2 senses:

1. provide housing for (military personnel)

2. divide into cantons, of a country

  Familiarity information: CANTON used as a verb is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• CANTON (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A city on the Zhu Jiang delta in southern China; the capital of Guangdong province and a major deep-water port

Classified under:

Nouns denoting spatial position

Synonyms:

Canton; Guangzhou; Kuangchou; Kwangchow

Instance hypernyms:

city; metropolis; urban center (a large and densely populated urban area; may include several independent administrative districts)

port (a place (seaport or airport) where people and merchandise can enter or leave a country)

Holonyms ("Canton" is a part of...):

Cathay; China; Communist China; mainland China; People's Republic of China; PRC; Red China (a communist nation that covers a vast territory in eastern Asia; the most populous country in the world)

Sense 2

Meaning:

A small administrative division of a country

Classified under:

Nouns denoting spatial position

Hypernyms ("canton" is a kind of...):

administrative district; administrative division; territorial division (a district defined for administrative purposes)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "canton"):

Swiss canton (one of the cantons of Switzerland)

Derivation:

canton (divide into cantons, of a country)

• CANTON (verb)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Provide housing for (military personnel)

Classified under:

Verbs of being, having, spatial relations

Synonyms:

billet; canton; quarter

Hypernyms (to "canton" is one way to...):

accommodate; lodge (provide housing for)

Domain category:

armed forces; armed services; military; military machine; war machine (the military forces of a nation)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s
Somebody ----s somebody

Derivation:

cantonment (temporary living quarters specially built by the army for soldiers)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Divide into cantons, of a country

Classified under:

Verbs of political and social activities and events

Hypernyms (to "canton" is one way to...):

carve up; dissever; divide; separate; split; split up (separate into parts or portions)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Derivation:

canton (a small administrative division of a country)