Precinct

4 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Precinct \Pre"cinct\ (?; 277), n. [LL. praecinctum, fr. L.
     praecingere, praecinctum, to gird about, to encompass; prae
     before + cingere to gird, surround. See {Pre-}, and
     {Cincture}.]
     1. The limit or exterior line encompassing a place; a
        boundary; a confine; limit of jurisdiction or authority;


        -- often in the plural; as, the precincts of a state. "The
        precincts of light." --Milton.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     2. A district within certain boundaries; a minor territorial
        or jurisdictional division; as, an election precinct; a
        school precinct.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     3. A parish or prescribed territory attached to a church, and
        taxed for its support. [U.S.]
        [1913 Webster]
  
              The parish, or precinct, shall proceed to a new
              choice.                               --Laws of
                                                    Massachusetts.
        [1913 Webster]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  precinct
       n : a district of a city or town marked out for administrative
           purposes

From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:

  161 Moby Thesaurus words for "precinct":
     Kreis, agora, ambit, amphitheater, approach, approximation,
     archbishopric, archdiocese, area, arena, arrondissement,
     athletic field, auditorium, background, bailiwick, bear garden,
     beat, bishopric, border, borderland, borders, borough, boundary,
     bounds, bowl, boxing ring, bull ring, campus, canton, canvas,
     champaign, circle, circuit, circus, city, close borough, closeness,
     cockpit, coliseum, colosseum, commune, compass, confines,
     congressional district, constablewick, convergence, county, course,
     demesne, departement, department, diocese, district, domain,
     dominion, duchy, election district, electoral district, electorate,
     environs, field, floor, foreground, forum, gerrymander,
     gerrymandered district, government, ground, gym, gymnasium, hall,
     hamlet, hemisphere, hippodrome, hundred, immediacy,
     immediate foreground, judicial circuit, jurisdiction, limits,
     lists, locale, magistracy, march, marketplace, mat, metropolis,
     metropolitan area, milieu, nearness, neighborhood, nighness,
     oblast, okrug, open forum, orb, orbit, palaestra, pale,
     parade ground, parish, pit, place, platform, pocket borough,
     precincts, principality, prize ring, propinquity, province,
     proximity, public square, purlieu, purlieus, quarter, range, realm,
     region, riding, ring, rotten borough, round, safe district, scene,
     scene of action, scenery, section, sector, setting, sheriffalty,
     sheriffwick, shire, shrievalty, silk-stocking district,
     single-member district, site, soke, sphere, squared circle,
     stadium, stage, stage set, stage setting, stake, state,
     swing district, terrain, territory, theater, tilting ground,
     tiltyard, town, township, vicinage, vicinity, village, walk,
     wapentake, ward, wrestling ring, zone
  
  

From Bouvier's Law Dictionary, Revised 6th Ed (1856) [bouvier]:

  PRECINCT. The district for which a high or petty constable is appointed, is 
  in England, called a precinct. Willc. Office of Const. xii. 
       2. In day time all persons are bound to recognize a constable acting 
  within his own precincts; after night the constable is required to make 
  himself known, and it is, indeed, proper he should do so at all times. Ibid. 
  n. 265, p. 93.