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Grisons

[French gree-zawn]
noun
  1. a canton in E Switzerland. 2747 sq. mi. (7115 sq. km). Capital: Chur.
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German Graubünden.

grison

[grahy-suh n, griz-uh n]
noun
  1. a weasellike carnivore, Galictis vittata, ranging from southern Mexico to Peru, having a grayish-white upper body, a distinctive white stripe across the forehead and ears, and a dark brown face, chest, and legs.
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Origin of grison

1790–1800; < French, equivalent to Middle French gris gray (see griseous) + -on diminutive suffix
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for grisons

Historical Examples

  • It is the capital of the Canton of Grisons, and was the seat of a bishop as early as 562.

    The Cathedrals and Churches of the Rhine

    Francis Miltoun

  • I remember, in 1828, to have met one of these in the Grisons, near the upper end of the valley of the Rhine.

    A Residence in France

    J. Fenimore Cooper

  • In their period of power, the Grisons masters had treated their Italian dependencies with harshness.

  • Reprinting it in 1879, after eighteen months spent continuously in one high valley of the Grisons, I feel how slight it is.

  • You made us wait long enough; I began to fear that you had taken root in the Grisons.

British Dictionary definitions for grisons

Grisons

noun
  1. the French name for Graubünden
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grison

noun
  1. either of two musteline mammals, Grison (or Galictis) cuja or G. vittata, of Central and South America, having a greyish back and black face and underparts
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Word Origin

C18: from French, from grison grey animal, from Old French gris grey
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012