Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Province \Prov"ince\, n. [F., fr. L. provincia; prob. fr. pro
   before, for + the root of vincere to conquer. See {Victor}.]
   1. (Roman Hist.) A country or region, more or less remote
      from the city of Rome, brought under the Roman government;
      a conquered country beyond the limits of Italy. --Wyclif
      (Acts xiii. 34). Milton.

   2. A country or region dependent on a distant authority; a
      portion of an empire or state, esp. one remote from the
      capital. ``Kingdoms and provinces.'' --Shak.

   3. A region of country; a tract; a district.

            Over many a tract of heaven they marched, and many a
            province wide.                        --Milton.

            Other provinces of the intellectual world. --I.
                                                  Watts.

   4. A region under the supervision or direction of any special
      person; the district or division of a country, especially
      an ecclesiastical division, over which one has
      jurisdiction; as, the province of Canterbury, or that in
      which the archbishop of Canterbury exercises
      ecclesiastical authority.

   5. The proper or appropriate business or duty of a person or
      body; office; charge; jurisdiction; sphere.

            The woman'sprovince is to be careful in her economy,
            and chaste in her affection.          --Tattler.

   6. Specif.: Any political division of the Dominion of Canada,
      having a governor, a local legislature, and representation
      in the Dominion parliament. Hence, colloquially, The
      Provinces, the Dominion of Canada.

Source : WordNet®

province
     n 1: the territory occupied by one of the constituent
          administrative districts of a nation; "his state is in
          the deep south" [syn: {state}]
     2: the proper sphere or extent of your activities; "it was his
        province to take care of himself" [syn: {responsibility}]