Provinces

How to spell provinces

9 letters · 3 syllables

How to pronounce provinces

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does provinces mean?

1. nounThe principal administrative divisions of certain countries.
2. nounThe parts of a country away from the capital or largest city.

Provinces in a sentence

• Canada is made up of ten provinces and three territories.

• After years in the city she retired to the quiet provinces.

• The new tax rules apply differently across the various provinces.

• Theatre tours often visit the provinces before reaching the major cities.

Where does provinces come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This is the plural of province, which English took from Old French province in the 1300s, itself drawn straight from the Latin provincia. In Rome a provincia was originally the sphere of duty or charge assigned to a magistrate, and only later did it come to mean a conquered territory governed from afar. The deeper roots are debated, but one popular ancient analysis connected it to pro (on behalf of) and a word related to vincere (to conquer), giving the sense of a land brought under control. From the idea of an administrative district the modern uses grew: the formal regional divisions of a country and, in a slightly dismissive turn, the outlying areas away from the capital. The single c and the -ince ending are the points worth fixing in memory, since the word never doubles a letter.

How the word is built

• province (from Latin provincia: a charge, official territory)
• -s (plural)