Also 6 cordone, 8 cordoon. [a. F. cordon, deriv. of corde CORD; It. cordone, Sp. cordon, Pr. cordo: in It. an augmentative, in F. also diminutive. The earliest form in Eng. appears to have been cordone from It.; but this was soon superseded by the Fr.]
1. Fortif. A course of stones along the line of junction of the rampart and parapet, or forming the coping of the escarp or inner wall of the ditch.
1598. Barret, Theor. Warres, V. i. 127. The ditch … to be made so deep, and cast vp so high, that it should couer the wall, at least vnto the Cordone.
1706. Phillips (ed. Kersey), Cordon … In Fortification, a row of stones … set between the Wall of the Fortress that lies a-slope and the Parapet which stands upright; serving for an Ornament in Defences made of Masons-work.
1782. Siege of Aubigny, 60. Humieres … had already gained the cordon of the rampart.
1859. F. A. Griffiths, Artil. Man. (1862), 261. The Cordon is a semi-circular projection of stone … placed at the top of the slope of the revetment of the escarp.
2. Arch. A string-course, or projecting band of stone, usually flat, on the face of a wall.
1706. Phillips (ed. Kersey), Cordon … In Architecture, a Plinth, or edge of Stone on the out-side of a Building.
1739. Labelye, Short Acc. Piers Westm. Bridge, 36. The Masons set the last Stone of the Torus or Cordon.
1876. Gwilt, Encycl. Archit., Gloss., Cordon, the edge of a stone on the outside of a building.
3. Mil. A line of troops composed of men placed at detached intervals, to prevent passage to or from the guarded area; a chain of military posts. Also attrib., as in cordon system, duty.
1758. Misc., in Ann. Reg., 373/2. If [our officers] order us to form a line, we can do it; but if they call that line a Cordon, we must be obliged to apply to the Chaplain for a Denouement of the mysterious word.
1796. Morse, Amer. Geog., I. 754. These troops … are dispersed at posts placed at proper distances on a Cordon, surrounding the colony on the land side.
1817. Wynn, in Parl. Deb., 356. A cordon of troops had been stationed on the banks of the river to intercept any communication.
1877. Field Exerc. Infantry, 314. There are two systems of outposts, viz. the Cordon system, and the patrol system.
b. transf. A continuous line or circle of persons round any person or place.
1854. ‘Marion Harland,’ Alone, xxiv. He attached himself to Mrs. Read’s cordon of admirers.
1883. Ld. R. Gower, My Remin., II. xxii. 70. A large crowd … kept back by a cordon of police.
c. fig.
1792. Burke, Corr. (1844), IV. 21. They propose that all Europe shall form a cordon to hedge in the cuckoo.
1868. G. Duff, Pol. Surv., 212. To draw round it a cordon, and to allow … no rival near the throne.
1879. W. F. Stevenson, in Gd. Words, March, 158. Foreigners who have been excluded by the strictest cordon ever drawn.
4. A guarded line between infected and uninfected districts, to prevent intercommunication and spread of a disease or pestilence. Called also sanitary cordon.
1826. Jas. Mill, in Westm. Rev., VI. 264. If a cordon against the ordinary plague is an expedient measure, [etc.].
1860. G. A. Spottiswoode, Vac. Tour, 89. A sanitary cordon as a protection from the plague may have mitigated the ravages of this scourge in Eastern Europe.
1885. Manch. Evening News, 9 June, 3/3. They proposed to establish cordons and lazarettos in order to ensure complete isolation of all infected towns.
5. An ornamental cord or braid forming a part of costume. Also, the cord worn by Franciscans.
1578. Inv. R. Wardrobe (1815), 219 (Jam.). Lang slevis with silver pasmentis and small cordonis of silvir and blew silk.
1599. Sandys, Europæ Spec. (1632), 15 (T.). All lay brethren and sisters that weare St. Francis Cordon.
1619. Z. Boyd, Last Battell (1629), 960 (Jam.). What are such Cuts and Cordons, Silkes and Satins … but infallible tokens of an vnsanctified heart?
1632. Lithgow, Trav., IX. (1682), 367. This done, he knitteth the Cordon of the Cloak about him.
1661. Morgan, Sph. Gentry, I. i. 4. Ordinary Jews had the cordons or binders of their fringes of this colour.
1842. Agnes Strickland, Queens Eng., I. 28. Unconsciously tied and untied the rich cordon that fastened his cloak several times.
1882. Cussans, Heraldry, 242. The Mantle [of the Order of the Garter] … is fastened by a rich white cordon, with large tassels, which extend to about the middle of the body.
b. Her. An ornamental cord accompanying the shield of an ecclesiastical dignitary.
ǁ 6. A ribbon, usually worn scarfwise, as part of the insignia of a knightly order. [Either confessedly Fr. (kordoṅ) or a Gallicism, the English equivalent being RIBBON.]
Grand cordon: that distinguishing the highest class or grade of such an order. Blue cordon (F. cordon bleu): the sky-blue ribbon worn by the Knights-grand-cross of the French order of the Holy Ghost, the highest order of chivalry under the Bourbon kings; hence extended to other first-class distinctions: cf. BLUE RIBBON. These and similar names are also applied to the wearers of the insignia, and by extension to other persons of distinction; cordon bleu, jocularly or familiarly, a first-class cook.
1727. Philip Quarll, 255. He meets with several Noblemen, some with a blew Cordoon.
1792. A. Young, Trav. France, 9. The ceremony of the day was, the King’s investing the Duke of Berri … with the cordon blue.
1829. Southey, Pilgr. to Comp., IV. VII. 263. For in his family, and this The Corporation knew, it rightly would be valued more Than any cordon bleu.
1836. T. Hook, G. Gurney, III. 62. Cordons, as they call them … the things they wear over their shoulders with the Garter, Bath, Thistle and St. Patrick.
1863. Kinglake, Crimea (1876), I. xiv. 229. He suffered himself to be publicly stripped of his grand cordon of the Legion of Honour.
7. Hort. A fruit-tree made by pruning to grow as a single stem (usually as an espalier or wall tree). Hence cordon-trained, cordon tree.
1878. W. Robinson, Parks & Gard. Paris (ed. 2), 280. A cordon means a tree confined to a single stem, that stem being furnished with spurs, or … little fruiting branches nailed in. Ibid., 417. The U form, or double Cordon, is best suited for a very high wall or fence.
1882. Garden, 16 Sept., 264/1. The fruits were all gathered from cordon-trained trees.
1885. Pall Mall Gaz., 22 Oct., 6/1. Pyramid, bush, and cordon trees … that will often with their first year’s crop repay their cost.
† 8. ‘The twist of a rope’ (Bailey fol., 1730–6).
