different between province vs quarter

English

Etymology

From Middle English provynce, from Anglo-Norman province, Middle French province, from Latin pr?vincia (“territory brought under Roman domination; official duty, office, charge, province”), from Proto-Indo-European *pr?w- (“right judge, master”). Cognate with Gothic ???????????????????????? (frauja, “lord, master”), Old English fr?a (“ruler, lord, king, master”). See also frow.

Pronunciation

• (General American) IPA^(key): /?p??v?ns/
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /?p??v?ns/

Noun

province (plural provinces)

1. A region of the earth or of a continent; a district or country. [from 14th c.]
   • 1859, Charles Darwin, The Origin of Species:

     We should find, as we do find, some groups of beings greatly, and some only slightly modified […] in the different great geographical provinces of the world.

2. An administrative subdivision of certain countries, including Canada and China. [from 14th c.]
   • 2016, The Guardian, 4 May:

     All of Fort McMurray, with the exception of Parson’s Creek, was under a mandatory evacuation order on Tuesday, said Robin Smith, press secretary for the regional municipality of Wood Buffalo in the Canadian province [of Alberta].

3. (Roman history) An area outside Italy which is administered by a Roman governor. [from 14th c.]
   • 2008, Mark Brown, The Guardian, 28 November:

     He reminded his audience of events in 88BC, when the same Mithridates invaded the Roman province of Asia, on the western coast of Turkey.

4. (Christianity) An area under the jurisdiction of an archbishop, typically comprising a number of adjacent dioceses. [from 14th c.]
   • 1838, The Churchman, p. 44:

     In 1309, neither the Archbishop of Canterbury nor his suffragans would attend in Parliament while the Archbishop of York had the cross borne erect before him in the province of Canterbury.

5. (Roman Catholicism) An area under the jurisdiction of a provincial within a monastic order.
6. (in the plural, chiefly with definite article) The parts of a country outside its capital city. [from 17th c.]
   • 1937, The Guardian, 1 April:

     To-day the first part of the new Indian Constitution comes into force with the granting of a large measure of autonomy to the provinces.

7. An area of activity, responsibility or knowledge; the proper concern of a particular person or concept. [from 17th c.]
   • 1984, Dorothee Sölle, The Strength of the Weak: Toward a Christian Feminist Identity, page 37:

     Just as money is the province of the economy and truth the province of science and scholarship, so love is the province of the family (Niklas Luhmann).

Usage notes

Province is the generic English term for such primary divisions of a country, but is not used where another official term has widespread use, such as France's regions and departments, Switzerland's cantons, or America's and Australia's states. Territories and colonies are sometimes distinguished from provinces as unorganized areas of low or foreign population, which are not considered an integral part of the country. Sovereign subdivisions of a larger whole, such as the principalities of the former Holy Roman Empire or the countries with the European Union, are likewise not usually described as provinces.

Synonyms

• (principal subdivision of a state): circuit, tao, dao, route, lu (imperial and early Republican China)

Coordinate terms

• canton (Swiss); county (British); department (French); oblast (Russian); state (USA, Australian); voivodeship (Poland)
• shire
• territory

Derived terms

• provincehood
• Provincetown
• provincewide

Related terms

• provincial

Descendants

• Tok Pisin: provins

Translations

French

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin pr?vincia. Doublet of Provence.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /p??.v??s/

Noun

province f (plural provinces)

1. province
2. the countryside (of France), the French regions (other than the Parisian region), provincial France

Related terms

• provincial

Further reading

• “province” in Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).

Italian

Noun

province f pl

1. plural of provincia

Synonyms

• provincie

Middle English

Noun

province

1. Alternative form of provynce

Middle French

Noun

province f (plural provinces)

1. province (subdivision of a territory)

Descendants

• French: province
• ? Middle English: provynce, provynse, province, provyns
  • English: province
    • Tok Pisin: provins
  • Scots: province

References

• province on Dictionnaire du Moyen Français (1330–1500) (in French)

Old French

Alternative forms

• provinz, pruvince

Noun

province f (oblique plural provinces, nominative singular province, nominative plural provinces)

1. province (subdivision of a territory)

Descendants

• Middle French: province
  • French: province
  • ? Middle English: provynce, provynse, province, provyns
    • English: province
      • Tok Pisin: provins
    • Scots: province
• Norman: provînche, provinche

References

• province on the Anglo-Norman On-Line Hub
• Godefroy, Frédéric, Dictionnaire de l'ancienne langue française et de tous ses dialectes du IX^e au XV^e siècle (1881) (province, supplement)

Walloon

Noun

province f (plural provinces)

1. province

English

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /?k(w)??t?/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /?k(w)??.t?/
• (General New Zealand) IPA^(key): /?ko?.t?/
• Rhymes: -??(?)t?(?)

Etymology 1

From Middle English quarter, from Anglo-Norman quarter, from Latin quartarius, from quartus. Compare Spanish cuarto (“room, quarters; quarter”). Doublet of quartier.

Noun

quarter (countable and uncountable, plural quarters)

1. A fourth part of something.
   1. (in general sense) Each of four equal parts into which something can be divided; a fourth part. [from 14th c.]

      A quarter of an hour.

   2. (now chiefly historical) A measure of capacity used chiefly for grain or coal, varying greatly in quantity by time and location. [from 13th c.]
   3. A fourth part of a pound; approximately 113 grams. [from 14th c.]
   4. (historical) A measure of length; originally a fourth part of an ell, now chiefly a fourth part of a yard. [from 14th c.]
   5. (now historical) A fourth part of the night; one of the watches or divisions of the night. [from 14th c.]
      • 1526, William Tyndale, trans. Bible, Mark 6:48

        And aboute the fourth quartre of the nyght, he cam unto them, walkinge apon the see [...].

   6. (now chiefly financial) A fourth part of the year; 3 months; a term or season. [from 14th c.]
   7. A fourth part of an hour; a period of fifteen minutes, especially with reference to the quarter before or after the hour. [from 15th c.]
   8. (now chiefly historical) A fourth part of a hundredweight. [from 15th c.]
   9. (heraldry) A fourth part of a coat of arms, or the charge on it, larger than a canton and normally on the upper dexter side, formed by a perpendicular line from the top meeting a horizontal line from the side. [from 15th c.]
   10. (Canada, US) A quarter-dollar, divided into 25 cents; the coin of that value minted in the United States or Canada. [from 18th c.]
   11. (sports) One of four equal periods into which a game is divided. [from 19th c.]
   12. (Chester, historical) A quarter of an acre or 40 roods.
2. Place or position.
   1. A region or place. [from 13th c.]
      • 1667, John Milton, Paradise Lost:

        I am to haste, / And all who under me thir Banners wave, / Homeward with flying march where we possess / The Quarters of the North […] .

   2. Each of four parts into which the earth or sky is divided, corresponding to the four cardinal points of the compass. [from 14th c.]
   3. A division or section of a town or city, especially having a particular character of its own, or associated with a particular group etc. [from 16th c.]
   4. One's residence or dwelling-place; (in plural) rooms, lodgings, especially as allocated to soldiers or domestic staff. [from 16th c.]
   5. (obsolete) Relations between people. [17th c.]
      • 1625, Francis Bacon, Of Cunning

        I knew two that were competitors for the secretary's place, […] and yet kept good quarter between themselves.

   6. Accommodation given to a defeated opponent; mercy; exemption from being killed. [from 17th c.]
3. Technical or specialized senses.
   1. (farriery) The part on either side of a horse's hoof between the toe and heel, the side of its coffin. [from 16th c.]
   2. (nautical) The aftmost part of a vessel's side, roughly from the last mast to the stern. [from 16th c.]
      • 1808–10, William Hickey, Memoirs of a Georgian Rake, Folio Society 1995, p. 80:

        I was one morning walking the deck, when Rogers, whose watch it was, sitting upon the quarter, called to me in his usual style, ‘Come here, Bill.’
4. Short forms.
   1. (now rare, rugby, American football) A quarterback. [from 19th c.]
   2. (military slang, now rare) A quartermaster; a quartermaster sergeant. [from 20th c.]
   3. A quarterfinal. [from 20th c.]

Synonyms

• (one of four equal parts): fourth, fourth part, ¼
• (period of three consecutive months): trimester, cour
• (section of a town): district; ward; neighborhood; ghetto (pejorative); borough (New York City); capitoulate (Toulouse, historical)

Derived terms

Related terms

• quart

Translations

References

Adjective

quarter (not comparable)

1. Pertaining to an aspect of a quarter.
2. (chiefly) Consisting of a fourth part, a quarter (¹?₄, 25%).

3. (chiefly) Related to a three-month term, a quarter of a year.

Antonyms

• quadruple

Usage notes

Often used in a combining form quarter-.

Derived terms

Verb

quarter (third-person singular simple present quarters, present participle quartering, simple past and past participle quartered)

1. (transitive) To divide into quarters; to divide by four.
2. (transitive) To provide housing for military personnel or other equipment.

3. (intransitive) To lodge; to have a temporary residence.
4. (transitive) To quartersaw.

Synonyms

• (to have a temporary residence): stay over, stop; See also Thesaurus:sojourn

Antonyms

• quadruple (multiply by four)

Translations

See also

• draw and quarter

References

Adjective

• "quarter" at Merriam-Webster
• "quarter" in Harrap's Shorter, 2006, p. 761

Etymology 2

Borrowed from French cartayer.

Verb

quarter (third-person singular simple present quarters, present participle quartering, simple past and past participle quartered)

1. (obsolete) To drive a carriage so as to prevent the wheels from going into the ruts, or so that a rut shall be between the wheels.

Catalan

Etymology

From Latin quartus.

Pronunciation

• (Balearic) IPA^(key): /kw???te/
• (Central) IPA^(key): /kw?r?te/
• (Valencian) IPA^(key): /kwa??te?/

Noun

quarter m (plural quarters)

1. fourth
2. quarter

Synonyms

• quart

Derived terms

• esquarterar

Further reading

• “quarter” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.
• “quarter” in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana.
• “quarter” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
• “quarter” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.

French

Etymology

From English.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /kwa?.t??/

Noun

quarter m (plural quarters)

1. quarter (old measure of corn)

Further reading

• “quarter” in Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).

Anagrams

• traquer

Middle English

Alternative forms

• quartre, quartier, wharter, quatere, quatter

Etymology

Borrowed from Anglo-Norman quarter.

Noun

quarter (plural quarters)

1. quarter

Descendants

• English: quarter
• Yola: curthere, cortere

References

• “quart???r(e, n.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.

Old French

Alternative forms

• quartier (chiefly mainland Europe)

Noun

quarter m (oblique plural quarters, nominative singular quarters, nominative plural quarter)

1. (chiefly Anglo-Norman) quarter (one fourth)

References

• quarter on the Anglo-Norman On-Line Hub
• Godefroy, Frédéric, Dictionnaire de l'ancienne langue française et de tous ses dialectes du IX^e au XV^e siècle (1881) (quartier, supplement)