province

noun

ˈprä-vən(t)s How to pronounce province (audio)
Definition of provincenext
as in area
a region of activity, knowledge, or influence a legal question outside the doctor's province

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Synonym Chooser

How is the word province distinct from other similar nouns?

Some common synonyms of province are duty, function, and office. While all these words mean "the acts or operations expected of a person or thing," province applies to a function, office, or duty that naturally or logically falls to one.

I felt it was not my province to inquire — Anne Brontë

Where would duty be a reasonable alternative to province?

The words duty and province are synonyms, but do differ in nuance. Specifically, duty applies to a task or responsibility imposed by one's occupation, rank, status, or calling.

it is the judicial duty of the court, to examine the whole case — R. B. Taney

When is function a more appropriate choice than province?

The meanings of function and province largely overlap; however, function implies a definite end or purpose or a particular kind of work.

the function of language is two-fold: to communicate emotion and to give information — Aldous Huxley

When can office be used instead of province?

The synonyms office and province are sometimes interchangeable, but office is typically applied to the function or service associated with a trade or profession or a special relationship to others.

they exercise the offices of the judge, the priest, the counsellor — W. E. Gladstone

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of province More than half of all deals went to companies in South Africa’s Western Cape province while Gauteng, the country’s industrial hub, received 27%. —Alexander Onukwue, semafor.com, 1 Aug. 2025 Earlier this month, an attack in the Ituri and North Kivu provinces saw 82 civilians killed. —Pol Ballús, New York Times, 30 July 2025 In neighboring Shanxi province, a bus carrying 14 people went missing near a village in the small hours of Sunday. —Nectar Gan, CNN Money, 28 July 2025 But most of those manufacturers rely on APIs made in Chinese facilities in Shanghai and in the coastal provinces of Zhejiang and Jiangsu. —Thomas J. Bollyky, Foreign Affairs, 22 July 2025 See All Example Sentences for province
Recent Examples of Synonyms for province
  1. area
  2. department
  3. realm
  4. domain
  5. element
  6. kingdom
  7. field
  8. walk
Noun
  • Other areas of constraint are chips and components to make the servers.
    — Jeff Marks, CNBC, 1 Aug. 2025
  • Adobe Town is a remote area in the Red Desert of southwest Wyoming, about a 250-mile drive west of Cheyenne.
    — Sacbee.com, Sacbee.com, 1 Aug. 2025
Definition of area
Noun
  • Allegations in the federal lawsuit include: The Department of State penalized Jonny's Road Testing for failing to meet reporting deadlines related to driver testing information, despite acknowledging systemic failures in the software system the department required driver testing companies to use.
    — Paul Egan, Freep.com, 31 July 2025
  • The department uses a Rural Mail Carrier Survey to track Ohio’s rabbit population, which involves distributing survey cards to all postmasters across the state, who then give the cards to the carriers delivering mail on rural routes.
    — Emma Wozniak, The Enquirer, 31 July 2025
Definition of department
Noun
  • In the realm of the visual, the Renaissance umanisti became humanists in our sense, almost by accident: what the painters learned from the past gave them license to enliven their work with faces, bodies, and desires.
    — Adam Gopnik, New Yorker, 28 July 2025
  • Earlier this month, leading experts in the realm of the mind gathered in Heraklion, Crete, for the International Center for Consciousness Studies (ICCS) annual conference.
    — Theodore McDarrah, Forbes.com, 27 July 2025
Definition of realm
Noun
  • The king of the show is Hank Hill, and his royal domain is nothing fancy: a ranch house in the fictional town of Arlen, Texas.
    — Rachel Monroe, New Yorker, 2 Aug. 2025
  • Guided by his economic insights, Friedman applied his thinking consistently, across issues and domains.
    — The Editorial Board, Oc Register, 31 July 2025
Definition of domain
Noun
  • Hegar's projection, officially called the biennial revenue estimate, is a crucial element in the setup to Tuesday's start of the 2025 legislative session.
    — John C. Moritz, Austin American Statesman, 30 July 2025
  • Long spoke on the city's programming for youth, which has been a major element of the city's plan to combat juvenile crime during the summertime.
    — David Ferrara, The Enquirer, 30 July 2025
Definition of element
Noun
  • Because once somebody is in the kingdom, things can happen to them, and the Western press doesn't really know.
    — Edward Felsenthal, Time, 23 July 2025
  • Over the same period, Saudi Arabia’s citizens gained visa-free access to four countries, bringing its total to 91 countries, which lifts the kingdom four places to No. 54.
    — Suzanne Rowan Kelleher, Forbes.com, 22 July 2025
Definition of kingdom
Noun
  • The team has separated for individual drills, and Venturi, carrying a small foldable chair, has left the quarterbacks on the north field and is making his way to the south field.
    — James Boyd, New York Times, 30 July 2025
  • If finding indoor shelter is not an option: Avoid open fields, hill peaks, or ridge tops.
    — CA Weather Bot, Sacbee.com, 30 July 2025
Definition of field
Noun
  • The city earned a bike score of 57.6 and walk score of 61.5 — the latter being nearly 12 points higher than Madison's walk score.
    — Maia Pandey, jsonline.com, 24 July 2025
  • On the other side of the harbor, about a 15-minute walk from Saegreifinn, the Grandi district is an industrial zone breaking out with creative spots.
    — New York Times, New York Times, 24 July 2025
Definition of walk

Browse Nearby Words

providing (for)
province
provinces
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Province.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/province. Accessed 7 Aug. 2025.

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More from Merriam-Webster on province

Nglish: Translation of province for Spanish Speakers

Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about province

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