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Webster 1913 Edition

Province

Prov′ince

,
Noun.
[F., fr. L.
provincia
; prob. fr.
pro
before, for + the root of
vincere
to conquer. See
Victor
.]
1.
(Roman Hist.)
A country or region, more or less remote from the city of Rome, brought under the Roman government; a conquered country beyond the limits of Italy.
Wyclif (Acts xiii. 34). Milton.
2.
A country or region dependent on a distant authority; a portion of an empire or state, esp. one remote from the capital.
“Kingdoms and provinces.”
Shak.
3.
A region of country; a tract; a district.
Over many a tract
of heaven they marched, and many a
province
wide.
Milton.
Other
provinces
of the intellectual world.
I. Watts.
4.
A region under the supervision or direction of any special person; the district or division of a country, especially an ecclesiastical division, over which one has jurisdiction;
as, the
province
of Canterbury, or that in which the archbishop of Canterbury exercises ecclesiastical authority
.
5.
The proper or appropriate business or duty of a person or body; office; charge; jurisdiction; sphere.
The woman’s
province
is to be careful in her economy, and chaste in her affection.
Tattler.
6.
Specif.: Any political division of the Dominion of Canada, having a governor, a local legislature, and representation in the Dominion parliament. Hence, colloquially, The Provinces, the Dominion of Canada.

Webster 1828 Edition

Province

PROV'INCE

,
Noun.
[L. provincia; usually supposed to be formed from pro and vinco, to conquer. This is very doubtful, as provinco was not used by the Romans.]
1.
Among the Romans, a country of considerable extent, which being reduced under their dominion, was new-modeled, subjected to the command of an annual governor sent from Rome, and to such taxes and contributions as the Romans saw fit to impose. That part of France next to the Alps, was a Roman province, and still bears the name Provence.
2.
Among the moderns, a country belonging to a kingdom or state, either by conquest or colonization, usually situated at a distance from the kingdom or state, but more or less dependent on it or subject to it. Thus formerly, the English colonies in North America were provinces of Great Britain, as Nova Scotia and Canada still are. The provinces of the Netherlands formerly belonged to the house of Austria and to Spain.
3.
A division of a kingdom or state, of considerable extent. In England, a division of the ecclesiastical state under the jurisdiction of an archbishop, of which there are two, the province of Canterbury and that of York.
4.
A region of country; in a general sense; a tract; a large extent.
Over many a tract
Of heaven they march'd, and many a province wide.
They never look abroad into the provinces of the intellectual world.
5.
The proper office or business of a person. It is the province of the judge to decide causes between individuals.
The woman's province is to be careful in her economy, and chaste in her affection.

Definition 2024

province

province

English

Noun

province ‎(plural provinces)

  1. A region of the earth or of a continent; a district or country. [from 14th c.]
    • 1859, Cahrles Darwin, The Origin of Species:
      We should find, as we do find, some groups of beings greatly, and some only slightly modified […] in the different great geographical provinces of the world.
  2. An administrative subdivision of certain countries, including Canada and China. [from 14th c.]
    • 2016, The Guardian, 4 May:
      All of Fort McMurray, with the exception of Parson’s Creek, was under a mandatory evacuation order on Tuesday, said Robin Smith, press secretary for the regional municipality of Wood Buffalo in the Canadian province.
  3. (Roman history) An area outside Italy which is administered by a Roman governor. [from 14th c.]
    • 2008, Mark Brown, The Guardian, 28 November:
      He reminded his audience of events in 88BC, when the same Mithridates invaded the Roman province of Asia, on the western coast of Turkey.
  4. (Christianity) An area under the jurisdiction of an archbishop, typically comprising a number of adjacent dioceses. [from 14th c.]
    • 1838, The Churchman, p. 44:
      In 1309, neither the Archbishop of Canterbury nor his suffragans would attend in Parliament while the Archbishop of York had the cross borne erect before him in the province of Canterbury.
  5. (in the plural, chiefly with definite article) The parts of a country outside its capital city. [from 17th c.]
    • 1937, The Guardian, 1 April:
      To-day the first part of the new Indian Constitution comes into force with the granting of a large measure of autonomy to the provinces.
  6. An area of activity, responsibility; the proper concern of a particular person or concept. [from 17th c.]
    • 1984, Dorothee Sölle, The Strength of the Weak: Toward a Christian Feminist Identity, page 37:
      Just as money is the province of the economy and truth the province of science and scholarship, so love is the province of the family (Niklas Luhmann).

Usage notes

"Province" is the generic English term for such primary divisions of a country, but is not used where another official term has widespread use, such as France's departments or America's states. "Territories" and "colonies" are sometimes distinguished from provinces as unorganized areas of low or foreign population, which are not considered an integral part of the country. Sovereign subdivisions of a larger whole, such as the principalities of the former Holy Roman Empire or the countries with the European Union, are likewise not usually described as provinces.

Synonyms

  • (principal subdivision of a state): circuit, tao, dao, route, lu (imperial and early Republican China)

Derived terms

Related terms

Coordinate terms

Translations

French

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin provincia.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /pʁɔ.vɛ̃s/

Noun

province f ‎(plural provinces)

  1. province
  2. the regions (provincial France)

Related terms

Italian

Noun

province f pl

  1. plural of provincia

Synonyms

Middle French

Noun

province f (plural provinces)

  1. province (subdivision of a territory)
    • 15th century, Rustichello da Pisa (original author), Mazarine Master (scribe), The Travels of Marco Polo, page 14:
      Elle est moult grant province.
      It is a big province.

Descendants

References

  • province on Dictionnaire du Moyen Français (1330-1500) (in French)

Old French

Alternative forms

  • provinz (very rare)
  • pruvince (Anglo-Norman)

Noun

province f ‎(oblique plural provinces, nominative singular province, nominative plural provinces)

  1. province (subdivision of a territory)

Descendants

References

Etymology

Middle English provynce, from Anglo-Norman province, Middle French province, from Latin prōvincia ‎(“territory brought under Roman domination; official duty, office, charge, province”), from Proto-Indo-European *prōw- ‎(“right judge, master”). Cognate with Gothic 𐍆𐍂𐌰𐌿𐌾𐌰 ‎(frauja, “lord, master”), Old English frēa ‎(“ruler, lord, king, master”). See also frow.

Pronunciation

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