province

/ˈpɹɑv.ɪns/

//ˈpɹɑv.ɪns// noun

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

"province" is a 8-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“province” has 12 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #3,190. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#3,190
frequency rank, English
4,417
“P” headwords
12
tracked misspellings
6
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A region of the earth or of a continent; a district or country.

Corpus desk

Index EN-province · province · English

province · rank #3,190 · 12 variants · 6 confusables

  • FREQ-COMMON #3,190
  • LEN-LONG 8 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-MID 6 pairs
  • VAR-MID 12 variants
  • BOOK-MID 4,417
  • PHOTO-FINISH proposal

Nearest frequency peer: proposal (-1 rank slots)

Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Rank peers near misspelling magnet “province”

Same rarity band: useful when a typo lands on a peer headword

corpus weight

What this shows “province” sits among these FrequencyWords peers; misspelling depth is tracked separately in the edit-distance chart.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

province vs proving
75% similar
province vs provinces
89% similar
province vs prince
75% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for province
PropertyValue
Headwordprovince
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ˈpɹɑv.ɪns/
Letters8
Frequency rank#3,190
Misspellings tracked12
Confusable pairs6
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “province”

This scale runs from the tiny cluster of words that carry ordinary speech (left) to the long tail of words almost nobody reaches for (right).provincelands here:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Same rarity band neighbours include “proposal” (#3,189), “purchased” (#3,191), “parking” (#3,188). Among 4,417 “P” headwords, “province” is #3,190. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 12 spelling variants around province (IPA /ˈpɹɑv.ɪns/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #3,190 among 4,417 “P” headwords. Wiktionary lists 8 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 12 likely wrong-spelling variants for province, with forms such as "porvince", "pprovince", and "proivnce". Each of these forms differs from the correct spelling by one small edit: a doubled letter, a dropped silent letter, or a substituted vowel. It also participates in 6 confusable-pair relationships, "proving", "provinces", "prince", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English provynce, from Anglo-Norman province, Old French province, from Latin prōvincia, seemingly corresponding to prō- and vinciō. Replaced Old English boldġetæl. The correct English form is province, spelled P-R-O-V-I-N-C-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    A region of the earth or of a continent; a district or country.
  2. 2
    An administrative subdivision of certain countries, including Canada and China.
  3. 3
    An area outside Italy which is administered by a Roman governor or prefect.
  4. 4
    An area under the jurisdiction of an archbishop, typically comprising a number of adjacent dioceses.
  5. 5
    An area under the jurisdiction of a provincial within a monastic order.
  6. 6
    The parts of a country outside its national capital.
  7. 7
    A major region defined by common geologic attributes and history.
  8. 8
    An area of activity, responsibility or knowledge; the proper concern of a particular person or concept.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how province appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. […] 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. Chowta-Zhin, who is ſaid to be a man of buſineſs and preciſion, and cautious of advancing facts, at the requeſt of Earl Macartney, delivered to him a ſtatement taken from one of the public officers in the capitol, of the inhabitants of the fifteen ancient provinces of China, or China proper, within the great wall ; according to which the number of inhabit…

Etymology

From Middle English provynce, from Anglo-Norman province, Old French province, from Latin prōvincia, seemingly corresponding to prō- and vinciō. Replaced Old English boldġetæl.

Synonyms

circuittaodaoroutelucountrysideflyover country

This word in other languages

provincia(Español)province(Français)Provinz(Deutsch)província(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • porvince
  • pprovince
  • proivnce
  • provicne
  • provincce
  • provinec
  • provinnce
  • provnice
  • provvince
  • prrovince
  • prvoince
  • rpovince

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of province - counted as single-character edits (an insertion, a deletion, or a substituted letter). The larger the bar, the easier the typo is to spot; one-edit slips are the ones that sneak past readers.

porvince2pprovince1proivnce2provicne2provincce1provinec2provinnce1provnice2
Edit distance from "province"

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "province"?
"province" is spelled P-R-O-V-I-N-C-E. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈpɹɑv.ɪns/.
What does "province" mean?
As a noun, "province" means: A region of the earth or of a continent; a district or country.
What words are commonly confused with "province"?
"province" is commonly confused with "proving", "provinces", "prince". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "province"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "province" is /ˈpɹɑv.ɪns/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "province"?
From Middle English provynce, from Anglo-Norman province, Old French province, from Latin prōvincia, seemingly corresponding to prō- and vinciō. Replaced Old English boldġetæl. See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "province", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 8 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

proposal#3,189strongly#3,197everyday#3,162Colorado#3,220

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (12 here; floor ≥5).

shortly12 variantsassessment12 variantscarefully12 variantsconfused12 variants

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list