See Also: province(medicine)
province(dictionary)
province(dictionary)
The Province(finance)
PROVINCE(law)
Vancouver Province(finance)
Cape Province(encyclopedia)
Cape Province(dictionary)
La Habana Province(tourism)
Northern Province(tourism)

province (iou)



province noun. ME.
[Old & mod. French from Latin provincia charge, official duty, administration or region of a conquered territory, of unkn. origin.]
I.
gen. A country, a territory, a district, a region; a part of the world or of a continent. Now rare. ME.
Roman History. A country or territory outside Italy, under Roman dominion, and administered by a governor from Rome. LME.
A principal administrative division of certain countries or States; a principal division of a kingdom or empire, esp. one historically or linguistically distinct; spec. (a) an English shire; (b) Hist. any of the British colonies in N. America; (c) the Province, Northern Ireland. LME.
United Provinces: see UNITED adjective.
Ecclesiastical.
a. A district within the jurisdiction of an archbishop or a metropolitan, usu. consisting of adjacent dioceses. Formerly also, a district within the jurisdiction of a synod of a Presbyterian Church. LME.
b. A territorial division of a religious order. E18.
In pl. The parts of a country outside the capital or chief seat of government, esp. regarded as unsophisticated or uncultured. L18.
a. Biology. An area, zone, or region containing a distinct group of animal or plant communities; a division of a biogeographical region. Also, a group of countries treated together with regard to species distribution etc. M19.
oceanic province, neritic province, etc.
b. In full petrographical province, petrographic province. (An area containing) a group of similar igneous rocks apparently formed during the same period of activity. L19.
c. More fully physiographic province. An extensive region all parts of which have a broadly similar geology and topography, differing significantly from adjacent regions. L19.
d. = oil province s.v. OIL noun. E20.
II.
A sphere of action, concern, responsibility, or knowledge; a department or branch of learning or of any subject. E17.
G. Berkeley The two distinct provinces of sight and touch. H. A. L. Fisher Bede..took all knowledge for his province. B. Pym It was not..a man's province to fetch or carry jumble. S. Quinn Psychic life..the province..of philosophy as of medicine.
Comb.: province rose (a) = PROVINS ROSE; (b) = PROVENCE rose; province-wide adjective extending throughout or pertaining to a whole province.