state, province
(noun) the territory occupied by one of the constituent administrative districts of a nation; “his state is in the deep south”
province, responsibility
(noun) the proper sphere or extent of your activities; “it was his province to take care of himself”
Source: WordNet® 3.1
province (plural provinces)
A region of the earth or of a continent; a district or country. [from 14th c.]
An administrative subdivision of certain countries, including Canada and China. [from 14th c.]
(Roman history) An area outside Italy which is administered by a Roman governor. [from 14th c.]
(Christianity) An area under the jurisdiction of an archbishop, typically comprising a number of adjacent dioceses. [from 14th c.]
(Roman Catholicism) An area under the jurisdiction of a provincial within a monastic order.
(in plural, chiefly with definite article) The parts of a country outside its capital city. [from 17th c.]
An area of activity, responsibility or knowledge; the proper concern of a particular person or concept. [from 17th c.]
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 regions and 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.
• (principal subdivision of a state): circuit, tao, dao, route, lu (imperial and early Republican China)
• canton (Swiss); county (British); department (French); oblast (Russian); state (USA); voivodeship (Poland)
• shire
• territory
Province (plural Provinces)
A surname.
• According to the 2010 United States Census, Province is the 16926th most common surname in the United States, belonging to 1681 individuals. Province is most common among White (90.3%) individuals.
Source: Wiktionary
Prov"ince, n. Etym: [F., fr. L. provincia; prob. fr. pro before, for + the root of vincere to conquer. See Victor.]
1. (Roman Hist.)
Definition: 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'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.
Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition
22 February 2025
(noun) the use of closed-class words instead of inflections: e.g., ‘the father of the bride’ instead of ‘the bride’s father’
The first coffee-house in Mecca dates back to the 1510s. The beverage was in Turkey by the 1530s. It appeared in Europe circa 1515-1519 and was introduced to England by 1650. By 1675 the country had more than 3,000 coffee houses, and coffee had replaced beer as a breakfast drink.
