district
Other forms: districts; districting; districted
Use the word district to talk about a specific part of your city or town. Your school district, for example, is an officially marked area that designates which school students can attend.
When a government outlines a region of a state, city, or town, that area is called a district. Besides school districts, there are also congressional districts and electoral districts, which are set up specifically for organizing voting and governing. In the 1600s, the word district was used for a feudal lord's territory, and it came from the Latin districtus, "territory of jurisdiction," with its root of distringere, "draw apart."
Definitions of district
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a region marked off for administrative or other purposes
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synonyms:
dominion, territorial dominion, territory
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examples:
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Palatinate
a territory in southwestern Germany formerly ruled by the counts palatine
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Mount Athos
an autonomous area in northeastern Greece that is the site of several Greek Orthodox monasteries founded in the tenth century
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Attica
the territory of Athens in ancient Greece where the Ionic dialect was spoken
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Boeotia
a district of ancient Greece to the northwest of Athens
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Papal States
the temporal dominions belonging to the pope (especially in central Italy)
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Acadia
the French-speaking part of the Canadian Maritime Provinces
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Northwest Territories
a large territory in northwestern Canada; part is now Nunavut
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Nunavut
an Arctic territory in northern Canada created in 1999 and governed solely by the Inuit; includes the eastern part of what was the Northwest Territories and most of the islands of the Arctic Archipelago
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Yukon Territory
a territory in northwestern Canada; site of the Klondike gold rush in the 1890s
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Northern Territory
a territory in north central Australia
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Northern Mariana Islands
a self-governing territory comprising all of the Mariana Islands except Guam
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Acre
a territory of western Brazil bordering on Bolivia and Peru
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Lake District
a popular tourist area in northwestern England including England's largest lake and highest mountain
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Galloway
a district in southwestern Scotland
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Lothian Region
a district in southeast central Scotland (south side of the Firth of Forth) and the location of Edinburgh
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East Malaysia
the part of Malaysia that is on the island of Borneo
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North Borneo
a region of Malaysia in northeastern Borneo
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Sarawak
a region of Malaysia on northwestern Borneo
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West Malaysia
the region of Malaysia on the Malay Peninsula
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KwaZulu-Natal
a region of eastern South Africa on the Indian Ocean
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American Samoa
a United States territory on the eastern part of the island of Samoa
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Aragon
a region of northeastern Spain; a former kingdom that united with Castile in 1479 to form Spain (after the marriage of Ferdinand V and Isabella I)
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Castilla
a region of central Spain; a former kingdom that comprised most of modern Spain and united with Aragon to form Spain in 1479
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Catalonia
a region of northeastern Spain
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Darfur
an impoverished region of western Sudan
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Kordofan
a mountainous province of central Sudan
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Louisiana Purchase
territory in the western United States purchased from France in 1803 for $15 million; extends from the Mississippi River to the Rocky Mountains and from the Gulf of Mexico to Canada
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types:
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administrative district, administrative division, territorial division
a district defined for administrative purposes
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border district, borderland, march, marchland
district consisting of the area on either side of a border or boundary of a country or an area
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city district
a district of a town or city
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congressional district
a territorial division of a state; entitled to elect one member to the United States House of Representatives
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development
a district that has been developed to serve some purpose
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enclave
an enclosed territory that is culturally distinct from the foreign territory that surrounds it
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palatinate
a territory under the jurisdiction of a count palatine
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community, residential area, residential district
a district where people live; occupied primarily by private residences
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goldfield
a district where gold is mined
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jurisdiction
in law; the territory within which power can be exercised
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mandate, mandatory
a territory surrendered by Turkey or Germany after World War I and put under the tutelage of some other European power until they are able to stand by themselves
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associated state, protectorate
a state or territory partly controlled by (but not a possession of) a stronger state but autonomous in internal affairs; protectorates are established by treaty
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possession
a territory that is controlled by a ruling state
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trust territory, trusteeship
a dependent country; administered by another country under the supervision of the United Nations
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British East Africa
the former British territories of eastern Africa, including Kenya, Tanganyika, Uganda, and Zanzibar
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British West Africa
the former British territories of western Africa, including Nigeria, Cameroon, Gambia, Togo, Sierra Leone, and the Gold Coast
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Barbary Coast
a part of a city that is notorious for gambling dens and brothels and saloons and riotous night life (especially the waterfront of San Francisco after the gold rush of 1849)
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precinct
a district of a city or town marked out for administrative purposes
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business district, downtown
the central area or commercial center of a town or city
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borough
one of the administrative divisions of a large city
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canton
a small administrative division of a country
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city
an incorporated administrative district established by state charter
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commune
the smallest administrative district of several European countries
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country, land, state
the territory occupied by a nation
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county
(United States) the largest administrative district within a state
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county palatine
the territory of a count palatine
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department
the territorial and administrative division of some countries (such as France)
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ghetto
a poor densely populated city district occupied by a minority ethnic group linked together by economic hardship and social restrictions
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housing development
a residential area of similar dwellings built by property developers and usually under a single management
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housing estate
a residential area where the houses were all planned and built at the same time
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abbacy
the jurisdiction or office of an abbot
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archbishopric
the territorial jurisdiction of an archbishop
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archdeaconry
the territorial jurisdiction of an archdeacon
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bailiwick
the area over which a bailiff has jurisdiction
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caliphate
the territorial jurisdiction of a caliph
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bishopric, diocese, episcopate
the territorial jurisdiction of a bishop
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federal district
a district set apart as the seat of government of a federation
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planned community
a residential district that is planned for a certain class of residents
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uptown
a residential part of town away from the central commercial district
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red-light district
a district with many brothels
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suburb, suburban area, suburbia
a residential district located on the outskirts of a city
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exurbia
a residential area outside of a city and beyond suburbia
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tenement district
a residential district occupied primarily with tenement houses
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justiciary
the jurisdiction of a justiciar
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reservation, reserve
a district that is reserved for a particular purpose
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school district
a district whose public schools are administered together
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shire
a former administrative district of England; equivalent to a county
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turf
range of jurisdiction or influence
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parish
the local subdivision of a diocese committed to one pastor
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patriarchate
the jurisdiction of a patriarch
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municipality
an urban district having corporate status and powers of self-government
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prefecture
the district administered by a prefect (as in France or Japan or the Roman Empire)
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quarter
a district of a city having some distinguishing character
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waterfront
the area of a city (such as a harbor or dockyard) alongside a body of water
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slum, slum area
a district of a city marked by poverty and inferior living conditions
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province, state
the territory occupied by one of the constituent administrative districts of a nation
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town, township
an administrative division of a county
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ward
a district into which a city or town is divided for the purpose of administration and elections
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venue
in law, the jurisdiction where a trial will be held
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viceroyalty
a district or province governed by a viceroy
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rabbit warren, warren
an overcrowded residential area
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combat zone, tenderloin
a city district known for its vice and high crime rate
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turf
the territory claimed by a juvenile gang as its own
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enterprise zone
a city district where development receives special tax advantages
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fringe, outskirt
a part of the city far removed from the center
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type of:
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region
a large indefinite location on the surface of the Earth
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regulate housing in; of certain areas of towns
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synonyms:
zone
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type of:
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govern, order, regularise, regularize, regulate
bring into conformity with rules or principles or usage; impose regulations
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govern, order, regularise, regularize, regulate
Pronunciation
US
/ˈdɪstrɪkt/
UK
/ˈdɪstrɪkt/
DISCLAIMER: These example sentences appear in various news sources and books to reflect the usage of the word ‘district'.
Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Vocabulary.com or its editors.
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