district

[Fr. from Low Lat. district us =a district within which a lord may distrain, distrin gere potest ( Ducange ); distringo to distrain (q.v.).] I. Ordinary Language: 1. A circuit of authority, a province: the extent of territory under a certain authority or jurisdiction. "Accepted by the several churches in their respective districts and dioceses."-Bp. Taylor: Di uasive from Popery , bk. i., pt. ii., § 1. breaks out with the brightest distric "A smile tion."-Collier: On the Aspect. *dis-trict-lý, *dis-trict-lie, adv . [Eng. dis trict; -ly. In a stringent, harsh, or rigorous manner; stringently, strictly. "District lie and in virtue of obedience commanding you."-Fox: Martyrs , p. 218. dis-trin-găs, s. [Latin=you may distrain, 2d per sing. pr. subj. of distringo to distrain (q. v.).] Law : 1. A writ i uing against a defendant who failed to attend; a distre infinite; a proce command "The agricultural laborers of the neighboring dis. tricts."-Macaulay: Hist. Eng., ch. xv. II. Law : The place in which a man hath the power of distraining, or the circuit or territory wherein one may be compelled to appear. ( Blount .) Crabb thus discriminates between district , re gion , tract , quarter : "These terms are all applied to country: the former two comprehending divisions marked out on political grounds; the latter a geographical or an indefinite division: a district is smaller than a region ; the former refers only to part of a country, the latter frequently applies to a whole country: a quarter is indefinite, and may be applied either to a quarter of the world or a particular neighborhood: a tract is the smallest portion of all, and comprehends frequently no more than what may fall within the compa of the eye. We consider the district only with relation to government: every magistrate acts within a certain dis trict ; we speak of a region when considering the circumstances of climate, or the natural properties which distinguish different parts of the earth, as the regions of heat and cold; we speak of the quar ter simply to designate a point of the compa , as a person lives in a certain quarter of the town; that is, north or south, east or west, ." (Crabb: Eng. Synon.)