From Middle English provynce, from Anglo-Norman province, Old French province, from Latin prōvincia, seemingly corresponding to prō- and vinciō.

• (America) IPA: /ˈpɹɑv.ɪns/
• (RP) IPA: /ˈpɹɒv.ɪns/

province (plural provinces)

1. A region of the earth or of a continent; a district or country. [from 14th c.]
   • 1859 November 23, Charles Darwin, “Geographical Distribution—continued”, in On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, […], London: John Murray, […], →OCLC ↗, pages 408–409 ↗:

     […] 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.

2. An administrative subdivision of certain countries, including Canada and China. [from 14th c.]
3. (historical, Ancient Rome, Roman Empire) An area outside Italy which is administered by a Roman governor or prefect. [from 14th c.]

   Synonyms: eparchy

4. (Christianity) An area under the jurisdiction of an archbishop, typically comprising a number of adjacent dioceses. [from 14th c.]
   • 1838, The Churchman, page 44:

     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.

5. (Roman Catholicism) An area under the jurisdiction of a provincial within a monastic order.
6. (in plural, chiefly with definite article) The parts of a country outside its capital city. [from 17th c.]
7. (geology) A 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. [from 17th c.]
   • 1984, Dorothee Sölle, The Strength of the Weak: Toward a Christian Feminist Identity, page 37:

     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).

• (principal subdivision of a state) circuit, tao, dao, route, lu (imperial and early Republican China)
• (parts of a country outside the capital) countryside, flyover country

• provincial

• French: province, (state) état
• German: Provinz, Land
• Italian: provincia
• Portuguese: província
• Russian: (Russian oblast) о́бласть
• Spanish: provincia

1. Surname.