chaton

English

Etymology

Borrowed from French.

Noun

chaton (plural chatons)

1. Collet, bezel (around a jewel, on a ring).
   • 2012, George Frederick Kunz, Rings for the Finger, page 257:

     Another ring, from the same locality, with a cross of simpler form engraved on the chaton was found attached to a chain.

2. (watches) chaton (movement component: a circular piece of metal inserted in a round hole, in which a ruby is inserted. The ruby is used as bearing for the pin (or pivot) of a shaft of a wheel)

Anagrams

• cantho-, Cần Thơ, chonta, Can Tho, Cantho

French

chaton (etymology 1 sense 1): kitten

chaton (etymology 1 sense 2): catkin

chaton (etymology 2 sense 1): collet (silver), and chaton etymology 2 sense 2): jewel (blue)

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ʃa.tɔ̃/

• Audio:

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Etymology 1

First attested in the 1530s in Middle French; by surface analysis, chat (“cat”) +‎ -on (forming diminutives). Compare English catkin.

Noun

chaton m (plural chatons, feminine chatonne)

2. kitten, kitty (baby cat)

   Synonyms: minet, minou

4. catkin

Etymology 2

Inherited from Middle French chaton, chaston, from Old French chastun (“the projecting part of a ring embedded with a stone”), from Frankish *kastō (“box, case”), from Proto-Germanic *kastô, *kasô, *kasą, *kazą (“vessel, container, pitcher, barrel”).

Cognate with Old High German kasto (“box, case”) (Modern German Kasten), Dutch kast (“cupboard, case”), Old English castenere (“cabinet, chest”), Old Norse kass, kassi (“basket”), Gothic 𐌺𐌰𐍃 (kas, “vessel, container”), Old High German char (“vessel, bowl, tray, trough”), Middle Low German kar (“vessel, basket”), Old Norse ker (“vessel, container”).

Noun

chaton m (plural chatons)

2. collet, bezel (around a jewel, on a ring)
4. (by extension) the jewel itself (around which the collet is, on a ring)

Descendants

• → Catalan: xató
• → English: chaton

Further reading

• “chaton”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012