The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

District \Dis"trict\, a. [L. districtus, p. p.]
   Rigorous; stringent; harsh. [Obs.]
   [1913 Webster]

         Punishing with the rod of district severity. --Foxe.
   [1913 Webster]

The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

District \Dis"trict\, n. [LL. districtus district, fr. L.
   districtus, p. p. of distringere: cf. F. district. See
   Distrain.]
   1. (Feudal Law) The territory within which the lord has the
      power of coercing and punishing.
      [1913 Webster]

   2. A division of territory; a defined portion of a state,
      town, or city, etc., made for administrative, electoral,
      or other purposes; as, a congressional district, judicial
      district, land district, school district, etc.
      [1913 Webster]

            To exercise exclusive legislation . . . over such
            district not exceeding ten miles square. --The
                                                  Constitution
                                                  of the United
                                                  States.
      [1913 Webster]

   3. Any portion of territory of undefined extent; a region; a
      country; a tract.
      [1913 Webster]

            These districts which between the tropics lie.
                                                  --Blackstone.
      [1913 Webster]

   Congressional district. See under Congressional.

   District attorney, the prosecuting officer of a district or
      district court.

   District court, a subordinate municipal, state, or United
      States tribunal, having jurisdiction in certain cases
      within a judicial district.

   District judge, one who presides over a district court.

   District school, a public school for the children within a
      school district. [U.S.]

   Syn: Division; circuit; quarter; province; tract; region;
        country.
        [1913 Webster]

The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

District \Dis"trict\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Districted; p. pr. &
   vb. n. Districting.]
   To divide into districts or limited portions of territory;
   as, legislatures district States for the choice of
   representatives.
   [1913 Webster]

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):

district
    n 1: a region marked off for administrative or other purposes
         [syn: district, territory, territorial dominion,
         dominion]
    v 1: regulate housing in; of certain areas of towns [syn:
         zone, district]

Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0:

117 Moby Thesaurus words for "district":
   Kreis, abode, airspace, apportion, archbishopric, archdiocese,
   area, arrondissement, bailiwick, bearings, belt, bench mark,
   bishopric, borough, canton, city, commune, community, confines,
   congressional district, constablewick, continental shelf, corridor,
   country, county, cut up, departement, department, diocese, divide,
   divide up, division, divvy, divvy up, duchy, electoral district,
   electorate, emplacement, environs, government, ground, hamlet,
   heartland, hinterland, hole, hundred, land, latitude and longitude,
   lieu, locale, locality, location, locus, magistracy, metropolis,
   metropolitan area, milieu, neighborhood, oblast, offshore rights,
   okrug, parcel, parcel out, parish, part, partition, parts,
   pinpoint, place, placement, point, portion, position, precinct,
   precincts, premises, principality, province, purlieus, quarter,
   region, riding, salient, section, sector, segment, sheriffalty,
   sheriffwick, shire, shrievalty, site, situation, situs, soil, soke,
   space, split, split up, spot, stake, state, stead, subdivide,
   terrain, territory, three-mile limit, town, township,
   twelve-mile limit, vicinage, vicinity, village, wapentake, ward,
   whereabout, whereabouts, zone



Bouvier's Law Dictionary, Revised 6th Ed (1856):

DISTRICT. A certain portion of the country, separated from the rest for some
special purposes. The United States are divided into judicial districts, in
each of which is established a district court; they are also divided into
election districts; collection districts, &c.