precinct
/ˈpɹisɪŋkt/
precinct noun: an enclosed space having defined limits, normally marked by walls.
Noun
precinct (plural precincts)
- An enclosed space having defined limits, normally marked by walls.
- For, by the fundamental Laws of the Realm, it is Capital in any Perſon, of what Quality ſoever, to make water within the Precincts of the Palace.1726 October 28, [Jonathan Swift], “The Author by an Extraordinary Stratagem Prevents an Invasion. […]”, in Travels into Several Remote Nations of the World. […] [Gulliver’s Travels], volume I...
- The general area surrounding a place, environs.
- A pedestrianized and uncovered shopping area.
- A subdivision of a city under the jurisdiction of a specific group of police; the police station situated in that district.
- A subdivision of a city or other locality for the purposes of voting and representation in local government. In cities, precincts may be grouped into wards.
- A district over which someone or some body of people has control in general; province, sphere of control.
- But ſince I loue to liue at libertie,
As eaſily may you get the Souldans crowne,
As any prizes out of my precinct.c. 1587–1588 (date written), [Christopher Marlowe], Tamburlaine the Great. […] The First Part […], 2nd edition, part 1, London: […] [R. Robinson for] Richard Iones, […], published 1592, →OCLC...
- But ſince I loue to liue at libertie,
- A surrounding boundary or limit.
precinct meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Bengali and Telugu
precinct in Hindi
- enclosed space
- परिसर parisar, प्रांगण prāṅgaṇ
precinct in Tamil
- சுற்றடைப்பு, புறநகர்
precinct in Bengali
- নির্দিষ্ট এলাকা, সীমানা
precinct in Telugu
- a precinct, premises, enclosure, compound; space enclosed round a house or garden
- ఆవరణము āvaraṇamu
More languagesFewer languages
- precinct in Malayalam
- പരിസരം, സ്ഥലവിഭാഗം, പ്രാന്തം, മണ്ഡലം
- precinct in Kannada
- ಎಲ್ಲೆ, ಗಡಿ, ಸರಹದ್ದು, ಕಾಪುಕಂಪಣ
- precinct in Persian
- حوزه hovze
Examples of precinct in a sentence
- The precinct is about ten minutes’ walk, straight ahead, so you can’t miss it.
- Assigned to the riverfront precinct for years, he pounded a beat of backstreets and dockyards.
- The demonstrators tried to create an autonomous zone around the precincts, like CHAZ in Seattle.
Forms of precinct
| plural | precincts |
|---|---|
| alternative form (obsolete) | præcinct |
Origin of precinct
From Middle English precinct, precincte, early 15th century, in sense of “district for government purposes”, from Medieval Latin precinctum, alternative form of praecinctum (“enclosure, boundary line”), neuter singular of praecinctus, perfect passive participle of Latin praecingō (“surround, gird”), from prae (“before”) + cingō (“surround, encircle”), from which also cinch. Cognate to Italian precingere (“to encircle”).
Words formed from precinct
Phrases with precinct
Questions about precinct
- What does precinct mean?
- Precinct means an enclosed space having defined limits, normally marked by walls.
- What is precinct in Hindi?
- Precinct in Hindi is परिसर (parisar), प्रांगण (prāṅgaṇ). See Precinct meaning in Hindi.
- What part of speech is precinct?
- Precinct is a noun.
- How do you pronounce precinct?
- Precinct is pronounced /ˈpɹisɪŋkt/.
- What is the plural of precinct?
- The plural of precinct is precincts.
Words near precinct in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: precinct (page history and authors); precinct (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); precinct (Bengali Wiktionary) (page history and authors); ఆవరణము (Telugu) (page history and authors); precinct (Olam, E.K. Kurup corpus) (dataset and license); precinct (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
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Cite this entry: “precinct.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/precinct. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.