WordWeight : Weighing the Words

Pronunciation : Prov"ince
Part of Speech : n.
Etymology : [F., fr. L. provincia; prob. fr. pro before, for + the root of vincere to conquer. See Victor.]
Definition : 1. (Roman Hist.)

Defn: 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