c.1330, from O.Fr. province (13c.), from L. provincia "territory under Roman domination," usually explained as pro- "before" + vincere "to conquer" (see victor); but this does not suit the earliest L. usages. Provincial "of or belonging to a province" is from 1377; sense of "countrified" first recorded 1755. Provincialism in the political sense is attested from 1820.
Prov"ince\, n. [F., fr. L. provincia; prob. fr. pro before, for + the root of vincere to conquer. See Victor.]1. (Roman Hist.) A country or region, more or less remote from the city of Rome, brought under the Roman government; a conquered country beyond the limits of Italy. --Wyclif (Acts xiii. 34). Milton. 2. A country or region dependent on a distant authority; a portion of an empire or state, esp. one remote from the capital. "Kingdoms and provinces." --Shak. 3. A region of country; a tract; a district. Over many a tract of heaven they marched, and many a province wide. --Milton. Other provinces of the intellectual world. --I. Watts. 4. A region under the supervision or direction of any special person; the district or division of a country, especially an ecclesiastical division, over which one has jurisdiction; as, the province of Canterbury, or that in which the archbishop of Canterbury exercises ecclesiastical authority. 5. The proper or appropriate business or duty of a person or body; office; charge; jurisdiction; sphere. The woman'sprovince is to be careful in her economy, and chaste in her affection. --Tattler. 6. Specif.: Any political division of the Dominion of Canada, having a governor, a local legislature, and representation in the Dominion parliament. Hence, colloquially, The Provinces, the Dominion of Canada.
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