Comment by laurencerowe

2 days ago

> Related: "province" originates from latin used by Romans to described conquered territory. This is the term founders of Canada in 1867 decided to use instead of "state"

According to https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Province this is a false etymology:

> In fact, the word province is an ancient term from public law, which means: "office belonging to a magistrate".

"State" is an overloaded term. In British English it usually refers to the top level political entity, e.g. "head of state" unless specifically talking about the US (except for the Secretary of State...)

I wonder if the word choice was influenced by the US civil war ending only a couple of years previously and wanting to make it unambiguous where the centre of power lay.

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laurencerowe

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talos_  2 days ago

From the link you shared:

> The English word province is attested since about 1330 and derives from the 13th-century Old French province, which itself comes from the Latin word provincia, which referred to the sphere of authority of a magistrate, in particular, to a foreign territory.

The fact that British authorities picked a French word that the conquered would understand is significant.

> I wonder if the word choice was influenced by the US civil war ending only a couple of years previously

Interesting interpretation! I would agree given Canadians were given the opportunity to ally with the 13 colonies at the time (but didn't). British loyalists also fled the United States. "Province" made allegiance to the crown oversea clear

  • laurencerowe  2 days ago

    > The fact that British authorities picked a French word that the conquered would understand is significant.

    That seems unavoidable given almost all English words related to government/law/administration (including "state") derive from French! The only counterexamples I can think of are "borough" and "riding".

    > "Province" made allegiance to the crown oversea clear

    There is a much clearer term for that though, "dominion" as in "Dominion of Canada". At least to my British English ear "province" simply doesn't have those connotations.

    • talos_  2 days ago

      > That seems unavoidable given almost all English words related to government/law/administration (including "state") derive from French!

      Interesting. I always thought that Britain adopted parliamentary system earlier than France. I'm guessing this has to do with the period Normandie (i.e., the French king) ruled over England

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