"provinces" in the noun sense
1. state, province
the territory occupied by one of the constituent administrative districts of a nation
"his state is in the deep south"
2. province, responsibility
the proper sphere or extent of your activities
"it was his province to take care of himself"
Source: WordNet® (An amazing lexical database of English)
Princeton University "About WordNet®."
WordNet®. Princeton University. 2010.
View WordNet® License