Grisons

Borrowed from French Grisons. This etymology is incomplete. You can help Wiktionary by elaborating on the origins of this term.

Grisons

1. A canton of Switzerland (the French name)

   Synonyms: canton of Grisons, (the German name) Graubünden, canton of Graubünden

   • [1685 October 11 (date written; Gregorian calendar), G[ilbert] Burnet, “The Second Letter. Millan, the First of October, 1685.”, in Some Letters. Containing, an Account of what Seemed Most Remarkable in Switzerland, Italy, &c. […], Rotterdam: […] Abraham Acher, […], published 1686, →OCLC, page 78:

     [T]here is a Griſon Regiment kept ſtill in pay by the Spaniards, there are in it tvvelve Companies of fifty a piece, and the Captains have a thouſand Crovvns pay, tho they are not obliged to attend upon the ſervice: […]]

   • 1759, George Sale & al., The Modern Part of an Universal History, Vol.XXIX: History of the German Empire, page 2:

     Since the reign of Charlemagne, this country is divided into High and Low Germany: the firſt, towards the ſouth, comprehending the Palatinate of the Rhine, Franconia, Suabia, Bavaria, Bohemia, Moravia, Auſtria, Carinthia, Carniola, Stiria, Tyrol, the Swiſs, and the Griſons […]

Historically but no longer prefixed by the.

• (cantons of Switzerland) Appenzell Inner Rhodes, Appenzell Outer Rhodes, Aargau, Basel-Landschaft, Basel-Stadt, Bern, Fribourg, Geneva, Glarus, Grisons, Jura, Lucerne, Neuchâtel, Nidwalden, Obwalden, Schaffhausen, Schwyz, Solothurn, St. Gallen, Thurgau, Ticino, Uri, Vaud, Valais, Zug, Zurich ^{(Category: en:Cantons of Switzerland)}

• in gross, ingross, rossing, signors

From gris (“grey”), referring to the color of the clothes of the original inhabitants. This is also reflected in the German name, Graubünden (“grey league”).

• IPA^(key): /ɡʁi.zɔ̃/

Grisons m pl (plural only)

1. Grisons (a canton of Switzerland)

• → English: Grisons

• (cantons of Switzerland) Cantons suisses; Appenzell Rhodes-Extérieures, Appenzell Rhodes-Intérieures, Argovie, Bâle-Campagne, Bâle-Ville, Berne, Fribourg, Genève, Glaris, Grisons, Jura, Lucerne, Neuchâtel, Nidwald, Obwald, Saint-Gall, Schaffhouse, Schwytz, Soleure, Tessin, Thurgovie, Uri, Valais, Vaud, Zug, Zurich ^{(Category: fr:Cantons of Switzerland)}

• Louis Deroy et Marianne Mulon, Dictionnaire des noms de lieux, Le Robert, 1994