Definify.com
Webster 1913 Edition
Province
Prov′ince
,Noun.
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
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 authority5.
The proper or appropriate business or duty of a person or body; office; charge; jurisdiction; sphere.
The woman’s
province
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.
Webster 1828 Edition
Province
PROV'INCE
,Noun.
1.
Among the Romans, a country of considerable extent, which being reduced under their dominion, was new-modeled, subjected to the command of an annual governor sent from Rome, and to such taxes and contributions as the Romans saw fit to impose. That part of France next to the Alps, was a Roman province, and still bears the name Provence.2.
Among the moderns, a country belonging to a kingdom or state, either by conquest or colonization, usually situated at a distance from the kingdom or state, but more or less dependent on it or subject to it. Thus formerly, the English colonies in North America were provinces of Great Britain, as Nova Scotia and Canada still are. The provinces of the Netherlands formerly belonged to the house of Austria and to Spain.3.
A division of a kingdom or state, of considerable extent. In England, a division of the ecclesiastical state under the jurisdiction of an archbishop, of which there are two, the province of Canterbury and that of York.4.
A region of country; in a general sense; a tract; a large extent. Over many a tract
Of heaven they march'd, and many a province wide.
They never look abroad into the provinces of the intellectual world.
5.
The proper office or business of a person. It is the province of the judge to decide causes between individuals. The woman's province is to be careful in her economy, and chaste in her affection.