province
NounOpen English WordNet
Noun (2)provinces
- the territory occupied by one of the constituent administrative districts of a nation“his state is in the deep south”Synonyms: stateType of administrative district, administrative divisionKinds commonwealth, Canadian province, Malaysian state, Italian region, Soviet Socialist Republic, Australian state, eparchy, American stateExamples Bavaria, Buganda, Andhra Pradesh, Odisha, Inner Mongolia, Acre, Guangdong, Goa, Yucatan, Bosnia +30 moreMember of country, state
- the proper sphere or extent of your activities“it was his province to take care of himself”Synonyms: responsibilityType of sphere, domainKinds ecclesiastical province
What does it mean? Question 1 of today’s quiz
Webster's Dictionary (1913)
Origin: 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.” William Shakespeare
3. A region of country; a tract; a district.
Over many a tract of heaven they marched, and many a province wide.— John Milton
Other provinces of the intellectual world.— Isaac 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'sprovince 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’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913), from GCIDE 0.54