provincial

[pruh-vin-shuhl]

adjective

1. belonging or peculiar to some particular province; local.

   the provincial newspaper.

2. of or relating to the provinces.

   provincial customs; provincial dress.

3. having or showing the manners, viewpoints, etc., considered characteristic of unsophisticated inhabitants of a province; rustic; narrow or illiberal; parochial.

   a provincial point of view.

   Synonyms: small-town, rural

4. (often initial capital letter),  noting or pertaining to the styles of architecture, furniture, etc., found in the provinces, especially when imitating styles currently or formerly in fashion in or around the capital.

   Italian Provincial.

5. History/Historical.,  of or relating to any of the American provinces of Great Britain.

noun

1. a person who lives in or comes from the provinces.

2. a person who lacks urban sophistication or broad-mindedness.

3. Ecclesiastical.

   1. the head of an ecclesiastical province.

   2. a member of a religious order presiding over the order in a given district or province.

provincial

/ prəˈvɪnʃəl, prəˌvɪnʃɪˈælɪtɪ /

adjective

1. of or connected with a province

2. characteristic of or connected with the provinces; local

3. having attitudes and opinions supposedly common to people living in the provinces; rustic or unsophisticated; limited

4. denoting a football team representing a province, one of the historical administrative areas of New Zealand

noun

1. a person lacking the sophistications of city life; rustic or narrow-minded individual

2. a person coming from or resident in a province or the provinces

3. the head of an ecclesiastical province

4. the head of a major territorial subdivision of a religious order

Other Word Forms

• provincially adverb
• interprovincial adjective
• nonprovincial adjective
• nonprovincially adverb
• quasi-provincial adjective
• quasi-provincially adverb
• semiprovincial adjective
• semiprovincially adverb
• subprovincial adjective
• unprovincial adjective
• unprovincially adverb
• provinciality noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of provincial¹

First recorded in 1300–50; Middle English (noun and adjective), from Latin prōvinciālis, from prōvinci(a) province + -ālis -al ¹

Example Sentences

Mr Jiménez's workshop on the main provincial road is there to help any that need new tyres.

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I remember calling my mom, saying “Hey, can you find the photos of me in my Nova Scotia provincial team basketball uniform when I was, like, 10 years old?”

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Less than 20 years before, Montreal lost its status as Canada’s financial center to Toronto when the separatist Parti Quebecois came to power in provincial elections.

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And while provincial governments back mining, not all communities do.

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Vaccination rates in Alberta, one of the provinces hit hard by the outbreak, are lower than the 95% threshold, according to provincial data.

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Related Words

• local 
• rural