Comment by 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.
> 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
Norman French was the language of administration in England for about 300 years following the Norman conquest in 1066 and the term "parliament" emerged during this time.
I like to joke that "Dominion of Canada" is actually a railroad company