*canton*

v. i. [ imp. & p. p. Cantoned ; p. pr. & vb. n. Cantoning. ] [ Cf. F.cantonner. ] 1. To divide into small parts or districts; to mark off or separate, as a distinct portion or division. [ 1913 Webster ]

They canton out themselves a little Goshen in the intellectual world. Locke. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Mil.) To allot separate quarters to, as to different parts or divisions of an army or body of troops. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A song or canto [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

Write loyal cantons of contemned love. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Of or pertaining to a canton or cantons; of the nature of a canton. [ 1913 Webster ]

A soft, white or colored silk fabric, of a gauzy texture and wavy appearance, used for ladies' scarfs, shawls, bonnet trimmings, etc.; -- called also Oriental crape. De Colange. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. 1. (Her.) Having a charge in each of the four corners; -- said of a cross on a shield, and also of the shield itself. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Arch.) Having the angles marked by, or decorated with, projecting moldings or small columns; as, a cantoned pier or pilaster. [ 1913 Webster ]

See Cotton flannel. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. To divide into cantons or small districts. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Cf. F. cantonnement. ] A town or village, or part of a town or village, assigned to a body of troops for quarters; temporary shelter or place of rest for an army; quarters. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ When troops are sheltered in huts or quartered in the houses of the people during any suspension of hostilities, they are said to be in cantonment, or to be cantoned. In India, permanent military stations, or military towns, are termed cantonments. [ 1913 Webster ]