province

plural provinces

1. A region of the earth or of a continent; a district or country.First known use 14th c.

   […] we should find, as we do find, some groups of beings greatly, and some only slightly modified,—[…]—in the different great geographical provinces of the world.

   1859 November 24, Charles Darwin, “Geographical Distribution—continued”, in On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, […], London: John Murray, […], →OCLC, pages 408–409

2. An administrative subdivision of certain countries, including Canada and China.First known use 14th c.

   The telegraph administration refuses to transmit messages either to or from the Provinces of Hu-Peh, Hu-Nan, Kiang-Si, Sze-Chuan, Kwei-Chow, and Yu-Nan^([sic – meaning Yun-Nan]).

   1911 October 16 [1911 October 15], “CENSOR STOPS REVOLT NEWS.; Troops Moving South, but Number Concealed -- Train Service Reduced.”, in The New York Times, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 12 Aug 2023, page 6

   5 more examples

   Chowta-Zhin, who is ſaid to be a man of buſineſs and preciſion, and cautious of advancing facts, at the requeſt of Earl Macartney, delivered to him a ſtatement taken from one of the public officers in the capitol, of the inhabitants of the fifteen ancient provinces of China, or China proper, within the great wall ; according to which the number of inhabitants, taken by a regular enumeration, amounts to 333,000,000!

   1798 October 20 [1797], “CALCULATIONS OF THE INHABITANTS OF THE GLOBE.”, in The Rural Magazine, volume I, number 36, Newark, →OCLC, page 2, column 1

   After the Hsuchow-Pengpu Battle,* with the exception of the battles fought on Tengpu Island and Kinmen Island,** Government troops put up no determined fight, and, as a result, province after province on the mainland fell into Communist hands.

   1957, Chiang Chung-cheng (Kai-shek), “China's Struggle Against Communism: Gains and Losses”, in Soviet Russia in China: A Summing-up at Seventy, New York: Farrar, Straus and Cudahy, →LCCN, →OCLC, page 236

   All of Fort McMurray, with the exception of Parson’s Creek, was under a mandatory evacuation order on Tuesday, said Robin Smith, press secretary for the regional municipality of Wood Buffalo in the Canadian province [of Alberta].

   2016 May 4, Nicky Woolf, “Fort McMurray: Canada wildfires force evacuation of oil sands city”, in The Guardian

   Doi Inthanon National Park covers 482.40 square kilometers. As one of Thailand’s most popular provinces for tourists, Chiang Mai has plenty of great attractions but one of the best has to be Doi Inthanon National Park.

   2017 July 30, Greg Jorgenson, “Thailand’s 77 provinces: 77 great places to go”, in CNN

   One of China’s poorest and most indebted provinces has admitted defeat in trying to sort out its finances and is appealing to Beijing for help to avert default. […] The Beijing-based firm — one of four funds created by the Chinese government in 1999 to process the bad loans of state-owned banks — announced Saturday that it would send a group of 50 experts to the province to help it “prevent and defuse risks” and “bail out” the real estate industry.

   2023 April 27, Laura He, “China may have to bail out one of its poorest provinces”, in CNN Business

   Synonyms: circuit, tao, dao, route, lu

3. Ancient RomeRoman EmpirehistoricalAn area outside Italy which is administered by a Roman governor or prefect.First known use 14th c.

   He reminded his audience of events in 88BC, when the same Mithridates invaded the Roman province of Asia, on the western coast of Turkey.

   2008 November 28, Mark Brown, The Guardian

   Synonyms: eparchy

4. ChristianityAn area under the jurisdiction of an archbishop, typically comprising a number of adjacent dioceses.First known use 14th c.

   In 1309, neither the Archbishop of Canterbury nor his suffragans would attend in Parliament while the Archbishop of York had the cross borne erect before him in the province of Canterbury.

   1838 January, The Churchman; […], volume 4, number 1, page 44

5. CatholicismAn area under the jurisdiction of a provincial within a monastic order.
6. in pluralwith definite articleThe parts of a country outside its national capital.First known use 17th c.

   To-day the first part of the new Indian Constitution comes into force with the granting of a large measure of autonomy to the provinces.

   1937 April 1, The Guardian

   1 more example

   "What are the Russian provinces?" he said. "Dirt, ruins, poverty, drunkenness. That is what we need to be working on, rather than expanding our prison to include Georgia, Ukraine, the Baltic states, and Belarus. That is the kind of Russian nationalist that I am…. There is no sense in using force to hold people that don’t want to be with you."

   2023 February 7, Yevgeny Legalov, “'I Couldn't Just Stand By': Russian Fighters Explain Why They Took Up Arms Against The Kremlin”, in Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, archived from the original on 07 Feb 2023

   Synonyms: countryside, flyover country

7. geographyA major region defined by common geologic attributes and history.
8. An area of activity, responsibility or knowledge; the proper concern of a particular person or concept.First known use 17th c.

   Some few hands are reserved called ship-keepers, whose province it is to work the vessel while the boats are pursuing the whale.

   1851, Hermann Melville, Moby Dick; Or, the Whale, page 450

   2 more examples

   More than half a million women are now employed on the railways of the Soviet Union, and some of them perform such duties as those of engine drivers and stationmasters, formerly considered the sole province of men.

   1941 February, “Notes and News: Women on Soviet Railways”, in Railway Magazine, page 82

   Just as money is the province of the economy and truth the province of science and scholarship, so love is the province of the family (Niklas Luhmann).

   1984, Dorothee Sölle, translated by Robert Kimber and Rita Kimber, The Strength of the Weak: Toward a Christian Feminist Identity, →ISBN, page 37

plural Provinces

1. A surname.