province

noun prov·ince \ ˈprä-vən(t)s \

|Updated on: 11 Jul 2018

Tip: Synonym Guide

Examples: province in a Sentence

Definition of province

1 a : a country or region brought under the control of the ancient Roman government

b : an administrative district or division of a country

c provinces plural : all of a country except the metropolises

2 a : a division of a country forming the jurisdiction of an archbishop or metropolitan

b : a territorial unit of a religious order

3 a : a biogeographic division of less rank than a region

b : an area that exhibits essential continuity of geological history; also : one characterized by particular structural or petrological features

4 a : proper or appropriate function or scope : sphere

that question is outside my province

b : a department of knowledge or activity

See province defined for English-language learners

See province defined for kids

Examples of province in a Sentence

They left the city for life in the provinces.
a legal question outside the doctor's province

Recent Examples of province from the Web

In the northern Mozambican province of Cabo Delgado, a group that alternates between the names al-Sunnah wa Jama’ah, Swahili Sunna or al‑Shabab, has unleashed a series of attacks on an impoverished region bordering Tanzania.

— eric schmitt, New York Times, "ISIS May Be Waning, but Global Threats of Terrorism Continue to Spread," 6 July 2018
The team had been among the top-performing in the province of Saskatchewan before the crash.

— kim mackrael, WSJ, "Canadian Police Arrest Driver of Truck Involved in Humboldt Broncos Bus Crash," 6 July 2018
The rebels are then expected to have no choice but to head to the northern province of Hajjah.

— NBC News, "Saudi-led forces seize airport in Yemen port city of Hodeida," 16 June 2018
The government of Québec is blocking all new requests for hydroelectric power from cryptocurrency-mining operations, so energy company Hydro-Québec can keep supplying power to everyone else in the Canadian province.

— david meyer, Fortune, "Cryptocurrency Miners Are Using So Much Energy That Quebec's Government Had to Crack Down," 8 June 2018
The hackers operated out of an MSS division in the province of Guangdong, which houses a major foreign hacking department.

— mark dent, Anchorage Daily News, "China hacked Navy contractor, secured trove of sensitive data on submarine warfare," 8 June 2018
Several more boats were discovered soon after—all with turtle carcasses on board and all registered to Vietnam, at the port of Sa Ky in the province of Quang Ngai.

— National Geographic, "Turtle Trafficker Sentenced, But Suspected Mastermind Still Not Charged," 8 June 2018
Yanqui was born in Palma Soriano, Cuba in the province of Santiago de Cuba, which sits on the Caribbean Sea.

— paul johnson, Aurora Beacon-News, "A first for Yoel: Cuban defector Yoel Yanqui sees snow before heating up for the Kane County Cougars," 29 May 2018
Born in the province of Inner Mongolia, he was sold as an infant by his impoverished parents to a more prosperous family in a neighboring village for 50 renminbi—the equivalent of $7.

— klara glowczewska, Town & Country, "Meet the Chinese Philanthropists Who Are Pledging Big Money to End Climate Change," 25 May 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'province.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Origin and Etymology of province

Middle English, from Anglo-French, from Latin provincia

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: 14th century

in the meaning defined at sense 1a

See Words from the same year

province Synonyms

Synonyms

area, arena, bailiwick, business, circle, department, discipline, domain, element, fief, fiefdom, field, firmament, front, game, kingdom, line, precinct, realm, specialty, sphere, terrain, walk;

Related Words

frontier;

study, subject;

territory, turf;

occupation, profession, pursuit, racket, vocation;

ambit, amplitude, breadth, compass, confine, dimension(s), extent, ken, reach, scope, sweep, width;

subfield, subspecialty;

Synonym Discussion of province

function, office, duty, province mean the acts or operations expected of a person or thing. function implies a definite end or purpose or a particular kind of work.