What does provincial mean?
Word: Provincial
Part of Speech: Adjective
Meaning: Provincial means connected with a province, one of the large areas into which some countries are divided. It can also describe places away from the capital city.
Synonyms: regional
Antonyms: national
Word origin: Comes from Latin provincia.
How do you spell provincial?
Syllables: pro - vin - cial
Tricky part: The ending is said shul, so provintial and provinshal are the usual slips. The sound is written with a c, then ial.
Watch out for: provintial, provinshal
Memory tip: Province is the parent word: hold on to its c when the ending changes.
Provincial in a sentence
Example 1: The orchestra toured provincial towns after its season in the capital.
Example 2: The provincial government has announced a new road through the hills.
Example 3: Ali's uncle teaches at a provincial college far from the national capital.
Fun Fact
Canada is divided into ten provinces and three territories, and each province runs its own schools through its provincial government.
Practise the CREST Way
Spell Spies
Choose the pair which has a spelling error:
a) finance : financial
b) province : provincial
c) continent : continantal
d) region : regional
Show answer
c) continent : continantal. Continental keeps the e of continent; the other pairs are spelt correctly.
Spell Probe
Fill the blanks with 'o' and 'i'. Which option gives the meaning of that word?
1. pr_c_pice 2. pr_m_ture 3. pr_s_nter 4. pr_v_ncial
a) happening before the proper time
b) belonging to a region, not the nation as a whole
c) a very steep side of a high cliff
d) a person who introduces a television show
Show answer
b) belonging to a region, not the nation as a whole. Only provincial takes those two letters; the others are presenter, premature and precipice.
Back to the Roots
Choose the correct option: Provincial comes from the Latin word provincia. What was a provincia?
a) a territory ruled from Rome
b) a public square in a city
c) a ship carrying grain
d) a camp for Roman soldiers
Show answer
a) a territory ruled from Rome. The Romans used provincia for lands outside Italy that they governed.
Word Tally
How many words are misspelt in the given sentence?
The provincial library has moved to a bright new building, and its catalouge can now be searched online.
a) 1
b) 3
c) 2
d) 0
Show answer
a) 1. Catalogue is the one misspelt word: it ends like dialogue.
Multiple Choice Questions
1. In a country divided into provinces, whom would a provincial minister mainly serve?
a) the staff of one small school
b) the crew of one national airline
c) the people of the whole country
d) the people of one area
Show answer
d) the people of one area
2. A newspaper from a provincial town is most likely to report on ___.
a) share prices on the national stock market
b) fashion shows in the world's big cities
c) fairs and schools in its own district
d) the daily business of the national parliament
Show answer
c) fairs and schools in its own district
