Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun A division of an area, as for administrative purposes.
  • noun A region or locality marked by a distinguishing feature.
  • transitive verb To mark off or divide into districts.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • To divide into districts or limited portions of territory: as, in the United States, States are districted for the choice of certain officers; counties or towns are districted for the maintenance of schools, etc.
  • noun A limited extent of country marked off for a special purpose, administrative, political, etc.; a circuit or territory within which may be exercised or to which are limited certain rights or powers; any portion of land or country, or any part of a city or town, which is defined by law or agreement.
  • noun A region in general; a territory within definite or indefinite limits: as, the district of the earth which lies between the tropics, or that which is north of a polar circle; the districts of Russia covered by forest.
  • noun Synonyms Division, quarter, locality, province, tract.
  • Stringent; rigorous; strict.
  • noun A subdivision of an English county with its own elective council charged chiefly with jurisdiction in sanitary matters. These districts are classed as ‘urban’ and ‘rural’ according as they lie within or without a borough or city.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • transitive verb To divide into districts or limited portions of territory.
  • adjective obsolete Rigorous; stringent; harsh.
  • noun (Feudal Law) The territory within which the lord has the power of coercing and punishing.
  • noun A division of territory; a defined portion of a state, town, or city, etc., made for administrative, electoral, or other purposes
  • noun Any portion of territory of undefined extent; a region; a country; a tract.
  • noun See under Congressional.
  • noun the prosecuting officer of a district or district court.
  • noun a subordinate municipal, state, or United States tribunal, having jurisdiction in certain cases within a judicial district.
  • noun one who presides over a district court.
  • noun [U.S.] a public school for the children within a school district.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun An administrative division of an area.
  • noun An area or region marked by some distinguishing feature.
  • verb transitive To divide into administrative or other districts.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • verb regulate housing in; of certain areas of towns
  • noun a region marked off for administrative or other purposes

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[French, from Old French, from Medieval Latin districtus, from Latin, past participle of distringere, to hinder; see distrain.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From French district, from Medieval Latin districtus ("a district within which the lord may distrain, also jurisdiction"), from Latin districtus, past participle of distringere ("to draw asunder, compel, distrain"), from dis- ("apart") + stringere ("to draw tight, strain").

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