provincial

US /prəˈvɪnʃəl/ UK /pɹəˈvɪn(t)ʃəl/ See IPA manual

Freq #14036

Meanings

1

adj
Narrow-minded or unsophisticated, in the way of someone from a small town far from the city.

He found their tastes hopelessly provincial after years of living abroad.
2

adj
Relating to a province or the regions outside the capital.

The party did surprisingly well in the provincial elections.

Thesaurus

Word family

Forms provincialismprovincials

Derived forms comprovincialecoprovincialextraprovincialinterprovincialintraprovincialmultiprovincialnonprovincialprovincialateprovincialistprovincialityprovincializationprovincialize

Appears in

Phrases (2)

See all

Etymology

From Middle English provincial, from Old French provincial, from Latin prōvinciālis (“of a province”), equivalent to province + -ial.

provincial Middle English prōvinciālis Latin

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Describing Qualities Word Formation & Derivatives

External links

# provincial

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2
**Part of speech:** adj
**IPA (US):** /prəˈvɪnʃəl/
**IPA (UK):** /pɹəˈvɪn(t)ʃəl/
**Frequency rank:** 14036

## Meanings
1. Narrow-minded or unsophisticated, in the way of someone from a small town far from the city.
2. Relating to a province or the regions outside the capital.

## Examples
- He found their tastes hopelessly provincial after years of living abroad.
- The party did surprisingly well in the provincial elections.

## Derived Forms
- comprovincial
- ecoprovincial
- extraprovincial
- interprovincial
- intraprovincial
- multiprovincial
- nonprovincial
- provincialate
- provincialist
- provinciality
- provincialization
- provincialize

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: provincial
- Root: prōvinciālis

## Etymology
From Middle English provincial, from Old French provincial, from Latin prōvinciālis (“of a province”), equivalent to province + -ial.

## AI Etymology
Provincial is from Middle English provincial, from Old French provincial, from Latin prōvinciālis (“of a province”), equivalent to province + -ial. The analysis is mainly morphological: the modern form is built from the named base and affix. Important recorded forms include provincial (Middle English), provincial (Old French), and prōvinciālis (Latin). Current senses include narrow-minded or unsophisticated, in the way of someone from a small town far from the city and relating to a province or the regions outside the capital. The wider family includes derived forms such as comprovincial, ecoprovincial, extraprovincial, interprovincial, and intraprovincial.

## Topics
- Describing Qualities
- Word Formation & Derivatives

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