cantonment

English

Etymology

From French cantonnement.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): (UK) /kanˈtɒnmənt/, /kanˈtuːnmənt/

Noun

cantonment (plural cantonments)

  1. Temporary military living quarters.
    • 1889, Rudyard Kipling, “Only A Subaltern”, in Under the Deodars, Boston: The Greenock Press, published 1899, page 145:
      On the Umballa platform waited a detachment of officers discussing the latest news from the stricken cantonment, and it was here that Bobby learned the real condition of the Tail Twisters.
  2. A town or village, or part of a town or village, assigned to a body of troops for quarters.
    • 1990, Peter Hopkirk, The Great Game, Folio Society, published 2010, page 220:
      The cantonments, it transpired, were singularly ill-sited for defence, being built on low, marshy ground, overlooked by hills on all sides.
  3. (India) A permanent military station.

See also

References

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