PROVINCES
Noun
provinces
plural of province
The part of a country outside of the capital, major cities, etc, and regarded as being rustic or parochial; a hinterland. See provincial.
Proper noun
Provinces
plural of Province
(chiefly, US, informal, with definite article) Canada.
Source: Wiktionary
PROVINCE
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