DCHP-1 Online

côte ((1)) 1 [< F côte side, coast] Hist. (except in place names)

• n. a canton or settlement along a river on the outskirts of a town or city.

  • See côte ((2)): in some quotes côte in place names is ambiguous in the evidence.

  • 1703  (1905)  Some cantons or quarters in the neighborhood of Quebec . . . planters call . . . cotes. . . .
  • 1883  These various settlements became known in local phraseology as Côtes, apparently from their natural situation on the banks of the river.
  • 1904  I cannot find that the word cote has ever been applied to river settlements in the province.
  • 1964  The côtes [along the Detroit River in U.C.], or long, straggling villages resembled . . . the settlements along the St. Lawrence in Quebec.