Related Searches
Nearby Words
Synonyms

provincial

 [pruh-vin-shuhl]   Origin

pro·vin·cial

   [pruh-vin-shuhl]
adjective
1.
belonging or peculiar to some particular province; local: the provincial newspaper.
2.
of or pertaining to the provinces: provincial customs; provincial dress.
3.
having or showing the manners, viewpoints, etc., considered characteristic of unsophisticated inhabitants of a province; rustic; narrow or illiberal; parochial: a provincial point of view.
4.
(often initial capital letter) Fine Arts. noting or pertaining to the styles of architecture, furniture, etc., found in the provinces, especially when imitating styles currently or formerly in fashion in or around the capital: Italian Provincial.
5.
History/Historical. of or pertaining to any of the American provinces of Great Britain.
noun
6.
a person who lives in or comes from the provinces.
7.
a person who lacks urban sophistication or broad-mindedness.
8.
Ecclesiastical.
a.
the head of an ecclesiastical province.
b.
a member of a religious order presiding over the order in a given district or province.

:10

:09

:08

:07

:06

:05

:04

:03

:02

:01

Provincial is always a great word to know.
So is zedonk. Does it mean:
the offspring of a zebra and a donkey.
a children's mummer's parade, as on the Fourth of July, with prizes for the best costumes.
LEARN MORE UNUSUAL WORDS WITH WORD DYNAMO...
Origin:
1300–50; Middle English (noun and adj.) < Latin prōvinciālis. See province, -al1

Related forms
pro·vin·cial·ly, adverb
in·ter·pro·vin·cial, adjective
non·pro·vin·cial, adjective
non·pro·vin·cial·ly, adverb
qua·si-pro·vin·cial, adjective
EXPAND
qua·si-pro·vin·cial·ly, adverb
sem·i·pro·vin·cial, adjective
sem·i·pro·vin·cial·ly, adverb
sub·pro·vin·cial, adjective, noun
un·pro·vin·cial, adjective
un·pro·vin·cial·ly, adverb
COLLAPSE

Can be confused: providential, provincial.

Synonyms
3. rural, small-town.

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
Cite This Source Link To provincial
Collins
World English Dictionary
provincial (prəˈvɪnʃəl)
 
—adj
1.  of or connected with a province
2.  characteristic of or connected with the provinces; local
3.  having attitudes and opinions supposedly common to people living in the provinces; rustic or unsophisticated; limited
4.  (NZ) denoting a football team representing a province, one of the historical administrative areas of New Zealand
 
—n
5.  a person lacking the sophistications of city life; rustic or narrow-minded individual
6.  a person coming from or resident in a province or the provinces
7.  the head of an ecclesiastical province
8.  the head of a major territorial subdivision of a religious order
 
provinciality
 
—n
 
pro'vincially
 
—adv

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
Cite This Source
Etymonline
Word Origin & History

provincial
late 14c., "pertaining to a province," from Fr. provincial (13c.), from L. provincialis, from provincia (see province). "Of the small towns and countryside" (as opposed to the capital and urban center) from 1630s, a French idiom. Suggestive of rude or narrow society from
EXPAND
mid-18c. The noun meaning "country person" is from 1711. Provincialism in the political sense is attested from 1820.
COLLAPSE
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
Cite This Source
Partners:WordBloglinesCitysearchThe Daily BeastAsk AnswersAsk KidsLife123SendoriThesaurus
Dictionary.com, LLC. Copyright © 2012. All rights reserved.
About Privacy Policy Terms of Use API Careers Advertise with Us Contact Us Help
  • Please Login or Sign Up to use the Recent Searches feature
FAVORITES
RECENT
How many words do you know? FIND OUT