precinct
noun
Simple meaning
The general area surrounding a place.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
preesingktSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
ˈpɹisɪŋkt
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
noun
chiefly in the plural
The general area surrounding a place, environs.
chiefly in the plural
An enclosed space having defined limits, normally marked by walls.
USlaw enforcement
A subdivision of a city under the jurisdiction of a specific group of police; the police station situated in that district.
us
A subdivision of a city or other locality for the purposes of voting and representation in local government. In cities, precincts may be grouped into wards.
uk
A pedestrianized and uncovered shopping area.
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: The general area surrounding a place, environs.
Used this way, precinct is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Moderately common
- Connotation
- Matter-of-fact
- Usage feel
- Neutral and straightforward
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
More ways to use precinct
- “The police precinct covers this entire neighborhood and responds to emergencies.”noun
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.