Definitions

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

  • noun A territory governed as an administrative or political unit of a country or empire.
  • noun Ecclesiastical A division of territory under the jurisdiction of a metropolitan.
  • noun Areas of a country situated away from the capital or population center.
  • noun An area of knowledge, activity, or interest: synonym: field.
  • noun The range of one's proper duties and functions; scope.
  • noun Ecology An area of land, less extensive than a region, having a characteristic plant and animal population.
  • noun Any of various lands outside Italy conquered by the Romans and administered by them as self-contained units.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun Originally, a country of considerable extent which, being reduced under Roman dominion, was remodeled, subjected to the rule of a governor sent from Rome, and charged with such taxes and contributions as the Romans saw fit to impose. The earliest Roman province was Sicily.
  • noun An administrative division of a country: as, the provinces of Spain; the former provinces of France; more loosely, any important administrative unit, as one of the governments of Russia or of the crownlands of Austria.
  • noun A part of a country or state as distinguished from the capital or the larger cities; the country: usually in the plural: as, an actor who is starring in the provinces.
  • noun Eccles., the territory within which an arch bishop or a metropolitan exercises jurisdiction: as, the province of Canterbury; the province of Illinois.
  • noun In the Roman Catholic Church, one of the territorial divisions of an ecclesiastical order, as of the Franciscans, or of the Propaganda.
  • noun A region of country; a tract; a large extent.
  • noun The proper duty, office, or business of a person; sphere of action; function.
  • noun A division in any department of knowledge or activity; a department.
  • noun In zoology, a prime division of animals; a phylum; a subkingdom; a branch; a type: as, in Owen's classification, the four provinces — Vertebrate., Articulata, Mollusca, and Radiata. The prime divisions of a province are called subprovinces.
  • noun In zoögeog., a subregion; a faunal area less extensive than a region. Thus, the Nearctic or North American region is zoologically divided into the eastern, middle, and western provinces.

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

  • noun (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.
  • noun A country or region dependent on a distant authority; a portion of an empire or state, esp. one remote from the capital.
  • noun A region of country; a tract; a district.
  • noun 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.
  • noun The proper or appropriate business or duty of a person or body; office; charge; jurisdiction; sphere.
  • noun 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.

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

  • noun A subdivision of government usually one step below the national level.
  • noun A territorial area within a country.
  • noun A jurisdiction; a (literal or figurative) area of authority.
  • proper noun UK Northern Ireland

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

  • noun the proper sphere or extent of your activities
  • noun the territory occupied by one of the constituent administrative districts of a nation

Etymologies

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

[Middle English, from Old French, from Latin prōvincia.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Middle English provynce, from Old 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.

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Examples

  • The constitutional power of disallowance enables the executive of the federal government to disallow provincial government laws, even if the province is acting exclusively within its own jurisdiction.

    Archive 2007-01-01 uncorrectedproofs 2007

  • I will never sacrifice my country but I will always stand up for my province, because my province is the heart of my country and I want that heart to be strong enough to face the challenges and vibrant enough to see the opportunities of the 21st century.

    My Canada - Today and Tomorrow 2005

  • One of the greatest of the issues of importance to my province is the continuing and growing crisis in agriculture and agricultural income.

    Prairie Agriculture: An Important Part of Canada's Future 2000

  • But, when I look out here, I have some understanding of what this province is about, indeed what this country is about.

    Testimonial Luncheon 1985

  • Any serious attempt to understand what my province is all about will immediately recognize the historical facts that have led to a very real disparity in the level of public services and the standard of living in our province, as opposed to the rest of Canada.

    The Future Prospects of Canada's Newest Province 1980

  • (Peckford) realized something that Newfoundland politicians, hungry for some tangible sign of development at any cost, had inconveniently ignored for generations -- that the province is a veritable warehouse of natural resources the world needs, and that the world would ultimately be willing to pay Newfoundland's price to get them.

    The Future Prospects of Canada's Newest Province 1980

  • The resolution of educational plans within the province is a controversial area which needs resolving, possibly at the Federal level.

    The Resultant of Forces 1963

  • The word which you have chosen as the motto for this province is the key word for mankind and I can wish you no better luck, I can express no better wish for you-for the future than that you may make your contribution as you have made in the most abundant nature in the past to the realization of the fullest meaning of that word.

    Free Masonry of Empire 1930

  • Any observer will tell you that the chief factor in the successful colonization of our province is the Cure.

    One of Canada's Assets, the Habitant 1922

  • After the end of the Punic war, Carthage fell into trouble with her hired soldiers, and did not interfere with the Romans for a long time, while they went on to arrange the government of Sicily into what they called a province, which was ruled by a proprætor for a year after his magistracy at home.

    Young Folks' History of Rome Charlotte Mary Yonge 1862

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