Etymologically
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province

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Pronunciation

  • IPA: UK /ˈprɒv.ɪns/, US /ˈprɑː.vɪns/[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English province, borrowed from Old French province and directly from Latin prōvincia (“territory outside Italy under Roman rule; an official charge”),[2][3] of uncertain origin.[2][3][4] It is traditionally explained as prō- “before” and vincere “to conquer”, but that does not suit the earliest Latin sense, “jurisdiction, governorship”;[3][2] MWU compares Gothic frauja “lord”.[5] It is the source of the name Provence.[2][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

A country, territory or region: about 1330 in the OED, before 1338 in Barnhart, in Mannyng's Chronicle,[6][3] the mid-14th century in Etymonline.[2]

Semantic evolution

An administrative division of a country is from 1382,[6] and the district of an archbishop from 1377.[6] In Roman history a province was a conquered territory outside Italy ruled by a governor from Rome (before 1380); the earliest was Sicily.[6][2] The North American colonies of Britain, later provinces of Canada, were so called from 1622.[6] The meaning “one's particular business, sphere or expertise” is from the 1620s, in Bacon.[2][3] The provinces, the parts of a country away from the capital, is a later use.[7][8] Provincial is from before 1378.[3]

Timeline

  • c. 1330 – a region.[6]
  • 1377 – an archbishop's province.[6]
  • 1382 – a division of a country.[6]
  • 1622 – British North American colonies.[6]
  • 1620s – one's sphere of action.[2]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. One of the main administrative divisions of some countries, such as Canada.
  2. the provinces: the parts of a country away from the capital.
  3. An area of knowledge or activity that belongs to someone: that's not my province.
  4. A district under the authority of an archbishop.

Word family

  • subprovince
  • provincial
  • Provence

References

  1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  3. ^ a b c d e f Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  4. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  5. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
  7. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
  8. ^ Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins