precinct
pronunciation
How to pronounce precinct in British English:
UK [ˈpri:sɪŋkt]
How to pronounce precinct in American English:
US [ˈpriˌsɪŋkt]
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- Noun:
- a district of a city or town marked out for administrative purposes
Word Origin
- precinct
- precinct: [15] The notion underlying precinct is of ‘encirclement’ or ‘enclosure’. It comes from the past participle of Latin praecingere ‘gird about, surround’. This was a compound verb formed from the prefix prae- ‘before, around’ and cingere ‘encircle with a belt’ (source of English cincture [16]). From the underlying notion come the twin modern meanings of an ‘area enclosed by walls’ and a ‘delimited district within a city’ (mainly used in American English).=> cincture
- precinct (n.)
- c. 1400, prasaynt (mid-15c. as precincte), "district defined for purposes of government or representation," from Medieval Latin precinctum "enclosure, boundary line," noun use of neuter past participle of Latin praecingere "to gird about, surround," from prae- "before" (see pre-) + cingere "to surround, encircle" (see cinch (v.)).
Example
- 1. The electoral process here is special for the fact only one candidate is nominated in each precinct .
- 2. He will have plenty of staff and eager volunteers to usher people to the 1774 precinct meetings where votes will be cast .
- 3. Until mid-june , the campaign was concentrating on lining up and training enough volunteers to create a " neighborhood team " for every precinct .
- 4. Roughly 15 people per team , says a co-ordinator of one of them , should be enough to ensure thorough coverage of each electoral precinct .