Word Origin Atlas

Exact historical dictionary sense

District in Webster's 1913 dictionary

The 1913 record labels district as noun. Its source-bounded etymology and selected historical definition appear below.

WEBSTER 1913noun
District

[LL. districtus district, fr. L. districtus, p. p. of distringere: cf. F. district. See Distrain.]

Cross-verified historical sense
The source text may be outdated. The page preserves that historical boundary.
Cross-verified 1913 record
Headworddistrict
Part of speechnoun
Historical etymology[LL. districtus district, fr. L. districtus, p. p. of distringere: cf. F. district. See Distrain.]
Selected historical definitionThe territory within which the lord has the power of coercing and punishing.
Signed record IDwebster1913-district-noun-312cf0e1e890
Source locatorCIDE.D, paragraph 10565; Gutenberg eBook 662
Edition-scoped answerNot earliest-attestation proofNot modern consensus
Independent historical textProject Gutenberg section 662Signed structural record sourceGNU GCIDE 0.54 archive
Quick answer

In Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913), "district" is labeled noun. Its etymology is recorded as: "[LL. districtus district, fr. L. districtus, p. p. of distringere: cf. F. district. See Distrain.]" The selected historical definition says: "The territory within which the lord has the power of coercing and punishing."

Project Gutenberg Webster 1913 plus signed GNU GCIDE 0.54 Exact cross-verified historical record reviewed 2026-10-04

What this answer proves

One named sense in one historical dictionary edition.

The answer reports the selected headword, part of speech, etymology, definition, and source locator as transcribed in the cross-verified 1913 record.

Evidence boundaryIt does not establish the earliest attestation or a complete borrowing chain.It does not claim current scholarly consensus or a modern dictionary definition.Historical dictionary text may be obsolete, incomplete, inaccurate, or offensive by modern standards.

More released D records

Every card owns a different source record and historical sense.

verb

Date

[Cf. F. dater. See 2d Date.]

Webster 1913 exact recordnoun

Design

[Cf. dessein, dessin.]

Webster 1913 exact recordverb

Drop

[OE. droppen, AS. dropan, v. i. See Drop, n.]

Webster 1913 exact recordadjective

Double

[OE. doble, duble, double, OF. doble, duble, double, F. double, fr. L. duplus, fr. the root of duo two, and perh. that of plenus full; akin to Gr. diplo`os double. See Two, and Full, and cf. Diploma, Duple.]

Webster 1913 exact recordnoun

Dance

[F. danse, of German origin. See Dance, v. i.]

Webster 1913 exact record

Browse released D records - browse all historical records.