provincial

[ pruh-vin-shuhl ]

adjective

1. belonging or peculiar to some particular province; local:

   the provincial newspaper.

2. of or relating to the provinces:

   provincial customs; provincial dress.

3. having or showing the manners, viewpoints, etc., considered characteristic of unsophisticated inhabitants of a province; rustic; narrow or illiberal; parochial:

   a provincial point of view.

   Synonyms: small-town, rural

4. (often initial capital letter) Fine Arts. noting or pertaining to the styles of architecture, furniture, etc., found in the provinces, especially when imitating styles currently or formerly in fashion in or around the capital:

   Italian Provincial.

5. History/Historical. of or relating to any of the American provinces of Great Britain.

noun

1. a person who lives in or comes from the provinces.
2. a person who lacks urban sophistication or broad-mindedness.
3. Ecclesiastical.
   1. the head of an ecclesiastical province.
   2. a member of a religious order presiding over the order in a given district or province.

provincial

/ prəˈvɪnʃəl; prəˌvɪnʃɪˈælɪtɪ /

adjective

1. of or connected with a province
2. characteristic of or connected with the provinces; local
3. having attitudes and opinions supposedly common to people living in the provinces; rustic or unsophisticated; limited
4. denoting a football team representing a province, one of the historical administrative areas of New Zealand

noun

1. a person lacking the sophistications of city life; rustic or narrow-minded individual
2. a person coming from or resident in a province or the provinces
3. the head of an ecclesiastical province
4. the head of a major territorial subdivision of a religious order

Derived Forms

• provinciality, noun
• proˈvincially, adverb

Other Words From

• pro·vincial·ly adverb
• inter·pro·vincial adjective
• nonpro·vincial adjective
• nonpro·vincial·ly adverb
• quasi-pro·vincial adjective
• quasi-pro·vincial·ly adverb
• semi·pro·vincial adjective
• semi·pro·vincial·ly adverb
• subpro·vincial adjective noun
• unpro·vincial adjective
• unpro·vincial·ly adverb

Word History and Origins

Origin of provincial¹

First recorded in 1300–50; Middle English (noun and adjective), from Latin prōvinciālis, from prōvinci(a) province + -ālis -al ¹

Example Sentences

“Rome was a big capital but very provincial at the time,” Rossellini says.

From Los Angeles Times

"This cannot be solved without talks with India," she said, adding that the provincial government would initiate such discussions through the foreign ministry.

From BBC

"I think that consensus is now broken and expect it to be one of the most salient issues in federal and provincial politics over the next year."

From BBC

Parliamentary and provincial elections were held at the same time as the presidential vote.

From BBC

The group added that these issues are rather a result of "decades of federal and provincial policies that have underfunded and privatized public services".

From BBC

Related Words

• local
• rural