precinct

[pree-singkt]

noun

1. a district, as of a city, marked out for governmental or administrative purposes, or for police protection.

   Synonyms: ward

2. Also called precinct house. the police station in such a district.

3. Also called election district. one of a fixed number of districts, each containing one polling place, into which a city, town, etc., is divided for voting purposes.

4. a space or place of definite or understood limits.

   Synonyms: territory

5. Often precincts. an enclosing boundary or limit.

6. precincts, the parts or regions immediately surrounding a place; environs.

   the precincts of a town.

7. Chiefly British.,  the ground immediately surrounding a church, temple, or the like.

8. a walled or otherwise bounded or limited space within which a building or place is situated.

   Synonyms: compound

precinct

/ ˈpriːsɪŋkt /

noun

1. 1. an enclosed area or building marked by a fixed boundary such as a wall

   2. such a boundary

2. an area in a town, often closed to traffic, that is designed or reserved for a particular purpose

   a shopping precinct

   pedestrian precinct

3. 1. a district of a city for administrative or police purposes

   2. the police responsible for such a district

4. a polling or electoral district

Word History and Origins

Origin of precinct¹

1350–1400; Middle English < Medieval Latin praecinctum, noun use of neuter of Latin praecinctus, past participle of praecingere to gird about, surround, equivalent to prae- pre- + cing- (stem of cingere to surround; cinch ¹ ) + -tus past participle suffix

Word History and Origins

Origin of precinct¹

C15: from Medieval Latin praecinctum (something) surrounded, from Latin praecingere to gird around, from prae before, around + cingere to gird

Example Sentences

She’s casting doubt on the capability of the national electoral council, or CNE, to transmit accurate results from voting precincts.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Raising $11 million during the final three weeks of the campaign, the party spent it on mailers, digital ads and text messages, as well as organizing phone banks and precinct walking, she said.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

But Ms. Machado led the opposition strategy to get out the vote and capture images of voter tally-sheets at each precinct at the end of the day.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Officers took him to a local precinct before transferring him to a police station more than 200 miles away in Nairobi.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

As he sat down to face questions from the feds, his sentences traveled winding paths through vague precincts to fog-filled destinations.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• district 
• neighborhood 
• ward