Prŏv'ince, n.
Prŏv'ince, n. [Fr. province, Pr., Sp., Pg., It., & Lat. provincia, from pro, before, for, and vincere, to conquer.]
Sense 1. (Anc. Rome.) A country or region more or less remote from the city, brought under the Roman government; a conquered country beyond the limits of Italy.
Judea now, and all the Promised Land Reduced a province under Roman yoke, Obeys Tiberius. Milton.
Sense 2. Hence, a country or region dependent on a distant authority; a portion of an empire, or state, remote from the capital.
With very ignorance we have kissed away Kingdoms and provinces. Shak.
Sense 3. Hence, a region of country; a tract; a large extent.
Over many a tract Of heaven they marched, and many a province wide. Milton.
Sense 4. A region which comes under the supervision or direction of any special person; the field over which one has jurisdiction, or to which he directs his attention; as, the province of Canterbury, being that in which the Archbishop of Canterbury exercises ecclesiastical authority.
Sense 5. Hence, a division in any department of knowledge or speculation.
Their understandings are cooped in narrow bounds, so that they never look abroad into other provinces of the intellectual world. Watts.
Sense 6. Hence, also, one's proper or appropriate business, duty, or calling.
The woman's province is to be careful in her economy, and chaste in her affection. Fuller.