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A present or bonus; -- originally applied to that paid on ships which entered the port of Canton. S. Wells Williams.

of the side of the choir on which the dean's stall is placed; decanal; -- correlative to cantoris; as, the decanal, or decani, side.

The canto, cantus, or soprano voice; the treble. Grove. Twenty doctors expound one text twenty ways, as children make descant upon plain song. Tyndale. She [the nightingale] all night long her amorous descant sung. Milton.

A division of a poem corresponding to a canto; a poem or song. [R.]

In Old English, a song; a strain; a canto or portion of a ballad; a passus. [Written also fitte, fytte, etc.] To play some pleasant fit. Spenser.

, nappy, woolen cloth, of loose texture. Shak. Adam's flannel. (Bot.) See under Adam. -- Canton flannel, Cotton flannel. See Cotton flannel, under Cotton.

y means of epochs. See Gregorian year (below). -- Gregorian chant (Mus.), plain song, or canto fermo, a kind of unisonous music, according to the eight celebrated church modes, as arranged and prescribed by Pope Gregory I. (called "the Great") in the 6th century. -- Gregorian modes, the musical scales ordained by Pop…

The largest and most eastern of the Swiss cantons.

A mercantile establishment or factory for foreign trade in China, as formerly at Canton; a succession of offices connected by a common passage and used for business or storage. Hong merchant, one of the few Chinese merchants who, previous to the treaty of 1842, formed a guild which had the exclusive privilege of tradin…

A collector of customs, as at Canton; an overseer of commerce.

a matting, floor matting made in China, India, etc., from grass and reeds; -- also called Canton, or China, matting. -- India paper, a variety of Chinese paper, of smooth but not glossy surface, used for printing from engravings, woodcuts, etc. -- India proof (Engraving), a proof impression from an engraved plate, ta…

A chief magistrate in some of the Swiss cantons.

A sentence, phrase, or word, prefixed to an essay, discourse, chapter, canto, or the like, suggestive of its subject matter; a short, suggestive expression of a guiding principle; a maxim. It was the motto of a bishop eminent for his piety and good works, ... "Serve God, and be cheerful." Addison.

A division or part; a canto; as, the passus of Piers Plowman. See 2d Fit.

hed also from designing and fitting garments. -- Plain song. (a) The Gregorian chant, or canto fermo; the prescribed melody of the Roman Catholic service, sung in unison, in tones of equal length, and rarely extending beyond the compass of an octave. (b) A simple melody. -- Plain speaking, plainness or bluntness of s…

To be conveyed in a vessel on water; to pass by water; as, they sailed from London to Canton.

the United States, in most of the separate States of the United States, and in some Swiss cantons.

A kind of boat used in Canton. It is about 25 feet long and is often rowed by women. Called also tankia. S. W. Williams.

An inhabitant, or the inhabitants, of the Swiss canton of Vaud.

a division for local government consisting of a group of mirs, or village communities; a canton.