Definition of: province

(prov′ins) noun
1. A considerable country incorporated with a kingdom or empire and subject to the central administration without having itself any voice in that administration.
2. Any large administrative division of a country with a permanent local government: the provinces of the Roman Empire, the Provinces of the Dominion of Canada or of the Union of South Africa, the United Provinces of Agra and Oudh. The word is often loosely used in the plural to denote those regions that lie at a distance from the capital; specifically, in Great Britain, the whole country except London.
3. A comprehensive department or sphere of knowledge or activity: the province of chemistry.
4. A definite sphere of action, especially one authoritatively assigned or properly belonging to a person: The province of the judge is to apply the laws.
5. Ecol. A zoogeographical area less than a region, having its own special flora, fauna, and types of mankind. [<OF <L provincia an official duty or charge, a province]