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

Four days later, the boys and men were transferred by the Red Crescent Society overland to Herat Province, Afghanistan, and from there to the capital, Kabul, for further medical treatment.

From BBC • Jul. 1, 2026

Together, these basins form a continent-scale fan-shaped pattern that researchers have named the East Antarctic Fan-shaped Basin Province.

From Science Daily • Jun. 4, 2026

An ongoing outbreak in the the Ituri Province of the Democratic Republic of the Congo last month has already racked up more than 500 cases, killing at least 130 people.

From Salon • May 20, 2026

WHO officials say the outbreak is of particular concern because the Ituri Province — the region around Mongbwalu and Bunia — is considered a “commercial and migratory hub” where Uganda, Congo and South Sudan meet.

From MarketWatch • May 17, 2026

Southwest or to reach Australia from New Guinea and Indonesia, and the failure of farming to spread from South Africa’s Natal Province to South Africa’s Cape.

From "Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies" by Jared M. Diamond

Related Words

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