Kanton

Forms

Kanton m (genitive Kantons, plural Kantone)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from French canton (“corner; district”), from Italian cantone, an augmentative of canto (“corner”).^[2][3] Pfeifer traces the Swiss word instead to the Lombard use of the same noun for a region or a mountain valley, adopted for the valleys of central Switzerland that had won their independence; the earlier German use and the Prussian one come in his view from French.^[4] The Italian noun goes back to Latin cantus (“iron tyre of a wheel”), a word of Gaulish origin, and so belongs with Kante.^[4][5] The same word is Dutch kanton, English canton and Swedish kanton.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

The German Wiktionary cites a first record of 1475 in a document from Freiburg im Üechtland.^[5] Pfeifer finds the word now and then in the 15th century for a part of a country, and as the name of the Swiss member states from the 16th century.^[4] Paul dates its use for Swiss affairs to 1574, and the Deutsches Fremdwörterbuch quotes Eyzinger in 1586: “of the five Orte or Cantone, as the French call them”.^[6][7]

Semantic evolution

For a long time the Swiss themselves used native words: until the end of the 18th century Ort, Gebiet and Stand stood beside it, and Adelung noted in 1774 that foreigners called the thirteen Swiss republics Cantons while the Swiss called them Orte.^[7][6][3] As a technical term of the Swiss constitution it dates from after 1798.^[6]

In 18th-century Prussia a Kanton was a district from which recruits were drawn; the system lasted until universal conscription.^[4][6][1] From it comes Kantonist, a man liable for service, which survives in unsicherer Kantonist, first said of a conscript who might try to avoid service, and since 1885 of anyone who cannot be relied on.^[2][4][6] The word is also used for districts in France, Belgium and Luxembourg.^[8]

Timeline

• 1475 – First known record, in a document from Freiburg im Üechtland.^[5]
• 1574 – First use for the Swiss states.^[6]
• 1586 – Eyzinger notes that the French call the Swiss Orte “cantons”.^[7]
• 1680 – Steiner's description of Switzerland speaks of the 13 Cantonen.^[7]
• 18th century – In Prussia, a district for raising recruits.^[4]
• After 1798 – Technical term of Swiss constitutional law.^[6]
• 1885 – First record of unsicherer Kantonist.^[6]

Meanings

Noun

1. A canton, one of the member states of the Swiss confederation: Der Kanton Uri liegt am Vierwaldstättersee.^[8][1]
2. A district in France, Belgium or Luxembourg.^[8]
3. (heraldry) A canton, a square field in the upper corner of a shield.^[1]
4. (historical) A recruiting district of the Prussian army.^[8][1]

Word family

• kantonal
• Kantonist

Related words

• Kante

Usage notes

The phrase ein unsicherer Kantonist “an unreliable person” keeps the Prussian sense: a Kantonist was a man liable to be called up from his district.^[2][6]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d Kluge, Friedrich; Seebold, Elmar (2011), Etymologisches Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache, 25th ed., Berlin / Boston: De Gruyter, p. 471
3. ^ a b Duden. Das Herkunftswörterbuch: Etymologie der deutschen Sprache (2014), 5th ed., Duden vol. 7, Berlin / Mannheim / Zürich: Dudenverlag, p. 428
4. ^ a b c d e f Pfeifer, Wolfgang, et al. (1993), Etymologisches Wörterbuch des Deutschen, 2nd ed., Berlin: Akademie-Verlag; digital revised version in the DWDS, dwds.de
5. ^ a b c Wiktionary, das freie Wörterbuch (German Wiktionary), de.wiktionary.org
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i Paul, Hermann (2002), Deutsches Wörterbuch: Bedeutungsgeschichte und Aufbau unseres Wortschatzes, 10th ed., ed. Helmut Henne, Heidrun Kämper and Georg Objartel, Tübingen: Niemeyer
7. ^ a b c d Schulz, Hans; Basler, Otto, et al. (1913–1988), Deutsches Fremdwörterbuch, 7 vols., Strasbourg / Berlin: Trübner / De Gruyter; 2nd ed., ed. Gerhard Strauß et al. (1995–), Berlin / New York: De Gruyter; via OWID, Leibniz-Institut für Deutsche Sprache
8. ^ a b c d Duden. Das Fremdwörterbuch (2007), 9th ed., Duden vol. 5, Mannheim: Dudenverlag