province

American  

[prov-ins] / ˈprɒv ɪns /

noun

• provinces
  plural

1. an administrative division or unit of a country.

2. the provinces,

   1. the parts of a country outside of the capital or the largest cities.

   2. (in England) all parts of the country outside of London.

3. a country, territory, district, or region.

4. Geography. physiographic province.

5. a department or branch of learning or activity.

   the province of mathematics.

   Synonyms:

   area

6. sphere or field of activity or authority, as of a person; office, function, or business.

   Such decisions do not lie within his province.

7. a major subdivision of British India.

8. an ecclesiastical territorial division, as that within which an archbishop or a metropolitan exercises jurisdiction.

9. History/Historical.

   1. any of the North American colonies now forming major administrative divisions of Canada.

   2. any of certain colonies of Great Britain which are now part of the U.S.

10. Roman History. a country or territory outside of Italy, brought under the ancient Roman dominion and administered by a governor sent from Rome.

11. Mining. an individual mineral-producing area.

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province British  

/ ˈprɒvɪns /

noun

1. a territory governed as a unit of a country or empire

2. a district, territory, or region

3. (plural) those parts of a country lying outside the capital and other large cities and regarded as outside the mainstream of sophisticated culture

4. ecology a subdivision of a region, characterized by a particular fauna and flora

5. an area or branch of learning, activity, etc

6. the field or extent of a person's activities or office

7. RC Church Church of England an ecclesiastical territory, usually consisting of several dioceses, and having an archbishop or metropolitan at its head

8. a major administrative and territorial subdivision of a religious order

9. history a region of the Roman Empire outside Italy ruled by a governor from Rome

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• subprovince
  noun

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• provinces
  plural

Etymology

Origin of province

First recorded in 1300–50; Middle English, from Middle French, from Latin prōvincia “province, official charge”

Explanation

A province is a region within a country. If you travel to Canada, you'll have to decide whether you want to go to the province of Quebec, or Saskatchewan, or one of the other 8 provinces in that enormous country. Many countries are divided into provinces. In the U.S. we don't have official provinces; we have states and counties. But we can use province in its other meaning, which is "the sphere of one's activities." If you manage a coffee shop and sit there reading and drinking coffee even when you're not working, then that shop is your province.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

province provinces

It had its epicentre near the village of San José del Palmar, in Chocó province, but could be felt across a vast area.

From BBC ● Aug. 12, 2026

Montreal’s La Caisse manages over a half-trillion Canadian dollars in assets on behalf of Quebec residents, and part of its mandate is to support companies in the province.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 11, 2026

Public records show there are tens of thousands of public school pupils in the city, which is in Indonesia's West Kalimantan province.

From Barron's ● Aug. 11, 2026

The BC Wildfire Service reported more than 100 active wildfires in the province as of late Sunday.

From Barron's ● Aug. 10, 2026

As the university owned one of the finest reference libraries in the province, Longridge often stayed with him and was, in fact, godfather to the Hunters’ nine-year-old daughter, Elizabeth.

From "The Incredible Journey" by Sheila Burnford

However, the pace of the virus's transmission in Dr Congo, where it has spread to six of 26 provinces, has been described as "exceptional" by the World Health Organization.

From BBC ● Aug. 17, 2026

The drought is particularly visible in the southern and eastern provinces, where the grass has turned the colour of straw and the Rhine this summer reached the lowest level ever recorded there.

From Barron's ● Aug. 15, 2026

Truscott and his wife decided to spend that money in Canada instead – the Atlantic provinces of Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island, to be exact.

From BBC ● Aug. 14, 2026

Some of the worst outbreaks developed in southwestern France's Gironde Department and in Spain's Ávila and Madrid provinces during the middle of the month.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 5, 2026

It promised to restore her lost provinces and ceded territories.

From "Sterling Biographies®: Cleopatra: Egypt's Last and Greatest Queen" by Susan Blackaby

Related Words

• colony
• county
• department
• district
• part
• region
• territory
• zone