prōvincia¹

Meaning

1. office, official duty, command, formal responsibility given to a magistrate
   Abeuntes ambo hic tum senes me filiis relinquont quasi magistrum. ― O Geta, provinciam161 BCE, Publius Terentius Afer, Phormio 1.80–82
   Valerio Potito Volsci provincia evenerat.27 BCE – 25 BCE, Titus Livius, Ab urbe condita 5.12
2. broadlya task, responsibility, burden
   ipsi obsonant, quae parasitorum ante erat provincia, ipsi de foro tam aperto capite ad lenones euntc. 200 BCE – 190 BCE, Plautus, Captivi 3.1.14–16
   […]; tum tuus pater, Corneli, id quod tandem aliquando confitetur, illam sibi officiosam provinciam depoposcit ut, cum prima luce consulem salutatum veniret, intromissus et meo more et iure amicitiae me in meo lectulo trucidaret.62 BCE, Cicero, Pro Sulla 18.52
3. especiallythe office of ruling over, or government of, an administrative region (province) of the Roman Republic or Empire
   cōnsulāris prōvinciaa govermnent entrusted to a proconsul (ex-consul)
4. countableany territory outside Italy, acquired chiefly by conquest, brought under Roman rule and governed by a Roman magistrate
   in prōvinciam redigereto put under Roman rule
   […] tertia lacū Lemannō et flūmine Rhodanō, quī prōvinciam nostram ab Helvētiīs dīvidit. [The Helvetian territory is bounded] on a third [side] by Lake Lemannus (Lake Geneva) and the Rhône River, which separates our province from the Helvetii.c. 52 BCE, Julius Caesar, Commentarii de bello Gallico 1.2
5. broadlycountablea territory outside of one's borders but under one's dominion
   [Ariovistus respondit] provinciam suam hanc esse Galliam, sicut illam nostram.c. 52 BCE, Julius Caesar, Commentarii de bello Gallico 1.44
6. broadlycountablean administrative region of the Roman Republic or Roman Empire, a province
   cōnsulāris prōvinciaa province under the rule of a proconsul (ex-consul)
   'Utramque provinciam', inquit 'remitto, exercitum depono, privatus esse non recuso.'44 BCE – 43 BCE, Cicero, Philippicae 8.25
7. broadlycountablean administrative region of any government
8. uncountablethe area oustide of Italy under Roman dominion
9. especiallyuncountablethe Provincia Narbonensis, Provence (now part of France)
   Hōrum omnium [Gallorum] fortissimī sunt Belgae, proptereā quod ā cultū atque hūmānitāte prōvinciae longissimē absunt,c. 52 BCE, Julius Caesar, Commentarii de bello Gallico 1.1

Latīnē defined in Latin in our graded readers

Declension

Phrases from Meissner's Latin Phrase-Book

provinciam obire

to visit, traverse a province.

provincias permutare

to exchange provinces.

provincias inter se comparant

(the magistrates) arrange among themselves the administration of the provinces, the offical spheres of duty.

provincias sortiri (Liv. 38. 35)

to draw lots for the provinces.

provinciam administrare, obtinere

to manage, govern a province.

provinciam alicui decernere, mandare

to entrust some one with an official duty, a province.

in provinciam proficisci (Liv. 38. 35)

to set out for one's province.

Asiam in provinciae formam (in provinciam) redigere (B. G. 1. 45)

to make Asia into a Roman province.

Origins

Perhaps a nominalization of *prō-vinc-ios, adjective formed on *prō-vinciō, see vinciō.

In English words that came into English from prōvincia

• provinceprōvincia
• provincialprōvinciālis
• Provençalprōvinciālis

In the Academy Smith's classical dictionaries

Related words

Meaning

1. Provence (a maritime geographic region and former province of southeastern France bordering Italy; since 2016 included in the administrative region of Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur)
   Omnibus episcopis, abbatibus, ducibus, comitibus... ceterisque fidelibus nostris, partibus Franciæ, Burgundiæ, Provinciæ, Septimaniæ, Italiæ, Austriæ, Neustriæ, Bajoariæ et Sclavoniæ commanentibus.1875, Mémoires de la Société de l’histoire de Paris, page 3:

Declension

Origins

From prōvincia.

In the Academy Smith's classical dictionaries