precinct (n.)

c. 1400, prasaynt (mid-15c. as precincte), "district defined for purposes of government or representation," especially in a city or town, 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.)). The meaning "exterior line or boundary encompassing a place" is from 1540s.

also from c. 1400

Entries linking to precinct

cinch (v.)

1866, "to pull in, gird with or as with a cinch," from cinch (n.). Figurative meaning "make certain" is from 1891, American English slang, via Western U.S. colloquial sense "bind or subdue by force" (1875). Related: Cinched; cinching.

pre-

word-forming element meaning "before," from Old French pre- and Medieval Latin pre-, both from Latin prae (adverb and preposition) "before in time or place," from PIE *peri- (source also of Oscan prai, Umbrian pre, Sanskrit pare "thereupon," Greek parai "at," Gaulish are- "at, before," Lithuanian prie "at," Old Church Slavonic pri "at," Gothic faura, Old English fore "before"), extended form of root *per- (1) "forward," hence "beyond, in front of, before."

The Latin word was active in forming verbs. Also see prae-. Sometimes in Middle English muddled with words in pro- or per-.

Trends of precinct

adapted from books.google.com/ngrams/. Ngrams are probably unreliable.

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scavenger

English scavage, scauage (Anglo-French scawage) "toll or duty exacted by a local official on goods offered for sale in one's precinct...

heathen

Old English hæðen "not Christian or Jewish," also as a noun, "heathen man, one of a race or nation which does not acknowledge the God of the Bible" (especially of the Danes), merged with Old Norse heiðinn (adj.) "heathen, pagan," from Proto-Germanic *haithana- (source also of Old

evangelist

late 12c., "Matthew, Mark, Luke or John," from Old French evangelist and directly from Late Latin evangelista, from Greek euangelistes "preacher of the gospel," literally "bringer of good news," from euangelizesthai "bring good news," from eu- "good" (see eu-) + angellein "announ

conjunction

late 14c., "a joining or meeting of individuals or distinct things," originally of planets or stars "meeting" in the same part of the sky, from Old French conjonction "union, joining, sexual intercourse" (12c.), from Latin coniunctionem (nominative coniunctio), noun of action fro

regeneration

mid-14c., regeneracioun, "act of regenerating or producing anew," originally spiritual, also of the Resurrection, from Old French regeneracion (Modern French regénération) and directly from Late Latin regenerationem (nominative regeneratio) "a being born again," noun of action fr

plot

late Old English plot "small piece of ground of defined shape," a word of unknown origin. The sense of "ground plan," and thus "map, chart, survey of a field, farm, etc." is from 1550s. Plat is a Middle English collateral form. The meaning "a secret, plan, fully formulated scheme

twitterpated

1942, apparently first attested in the Walt Disney movie "Bambi" (there also was a song by that name but it was not in the studio release of the film), a past-participle adjective formed from twitter in the "tremulous excitement" noun sense (1670s) + pate (n.2) "head" (compare fl

meme

"an idea, behavior, or style that spreads from person to person within a culture," 1976, introduced by evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins in "The Selfish Gene," coined by him from Greek sources, such as mimeisthai "to imitate" (see mime (n.)), and intended to echo gene. We n

Druid

"one of the order of priests among the ancient Celts of Gaul, Britain, and Ireland," 1560s, from French druide (16c.), from Latin druis, fem. druias (plural druidae), from Gaulish Druides, from Celtic compound *dru-wid- "strong seer," from Old Celtic *derwos "true" (from PIE root

dichotomy

c. 1600, "a cutting in two, division into two classes;" 1630s, "state of having a dual arrangement or order," from Latinized form of Greek dikhotomia "a cutting in half," from dikho-, combining form of dikha "in two, asunder" (from or related to dis "twice," from PIE root *dwo- "

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updated on October 14, 2020

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Dictionary entries near precinct

preception

preceptor

preceptorship

precession

precieuse

precinct

preciosity

precious

precipe

precipice

precipitant