cordon
1. a cord or ribbon worn as an ornament or fastening
2. Architect an ornamental projecting band or continuous moulding along a wall
3. Horticulture a form of fruit tree consisting of a single stem bearing fruiting spurs, produced by cutting back all lateral branches
Collins Discovery Encyclopedia, 1st edition © HarperCollins Publishers 2005
cordon
[′kȯrd·ən] (botany)
A plant trained to grow flat against a vertical structure, in a single horizontal shoot or two opposed horizontal shoots.
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Scientific & Technical Terms, 6E, Copyright © 2003 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
cordon
2. A semi-circular masonry projection, placed at the top of a wall, to discharge water to each side.
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Architecture and Construction. Copyright © 2003 by McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
The following article is from The Great Soviet Encyclopedia (1979). It might be outdated or ideologically biased.
Cordon
a small frontier post.
Cordon lines were set up in the 18th and 19th centuries to cover frontiers in order to stop sabotage detachments and pre-vent smuggling and the spread of epidemic diseases (sanitary cordon). The term “cordon” has been retained in the French Army and several other armies. The term is sometimes also applied to forest ranger posts and posts for the protection of land preserves.
The Great Soviet Encyclopedia, 3rd Edition (1970-1979). © 2010 The Gale Group, Inc. All rights reserved.