district English · revision 2629

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=1611 (Cotgrave)|origins=la stringere}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ˈdɪs.trɪkt/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|fr|district]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(AHD 2000) from [[la-med|districtus|t=restraint of offenders; jurisdiction; area of jurisdiction]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(MWU 2024) the noun use of the past participle of [[la|distringere|t=to draw apart, hinder; to compel]],^(Etymonline)^(AHD 2000)^(Klein 1966) from [[m|la|dis-|t=apart]] and [[m|la|stringere|t=to draw tight]],^(Etymonline)^(Klein 1966) the source of [[strain]].^(Etymonline) It is related to [[distrain]] and [[distress]], which also once meant “to constrain”.^(Etymonline)^(AHD 2000)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ In law, the territory under the jurisdiction of a feudal lord, in which he could seize property for legal reasons: 1611, in Cotgrave's dictionary,^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) a sense now obsolete.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Word Origins notes that a district was originally the territory under a feudal lord's jurisdiction, and that Medieval Latin districtus meant the restraining of offenders and the right to administer justice.^(Cresswell 2021) A part of a country marked off for a special purpose is from 1664^(OED 1989) or the 1660s,^(Etymonline) and any tract of land vaguely by the early 18th century.^(Etymonline) Specific administrative senses followed: a division of a province in British India from 1776, an electoral district in the United States from 1800, and a subdivision of an English parish from 1818.^(OED 1989) ''District attorney'' is American English from 1789.^(Barnhart 1988) The verb, “to divide into districts”, is from 1792.^(MWU 2024)^(MW Collegiate)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1611 – a feudal lord's jurisdiction.^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1664 – an administrative division.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1776 – a district of British India.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1789 – ''district attorney''.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1792 – verb, to divide into districts.^(MWU 2024)

+ * 1800 – a US electoral district.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A division of an area marked off for administrative or political purposes.^(AHD)^(SOED 2002)

+ # A region or area with a particular character: ''the Lake District''.^(AHD)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ===Verb===

+ # To divide into districts.^(AHD)^(MWU 2024)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[districtwide]]

+ * [[interdistrict]]

+ * [[subdistrict]]

+ * [[redistrict]]

+ * [[district attorney]]

+ * [[federal district]]

+ * [[red-light district]]

+ * [[congressional district]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[distrain]]

+ * [[distress]]

+ * [[strict]]

+ * [[strain]]

+ * [[constrict]]

+ * [[restrict]]

+ * [[stringent]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ An unrelated obsolete adjective ''district'', “strict, severe”, from Latin districtus, was used from 1526 to the early 18th century.^(OED 1989)^(SOED 2002)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}