DictionaryAI

district

DIS-trikt/ˈdɪstɹɪkt/

Pluraldistricts

Verbdistricts, districting, districted

5 meanings of district

Practice

  1. 1
    official areanouncountable
    An area marked off as an official part of a country, county or city, for government, voting or schools.

    Our town belongs to a large school district.

    Each district in the state chooses one person to send to the state senate.

  2. 2
    part of townnouncountable
    A part of a city or area known for one special thing, like its shops or theaters.

    Like a part of town where all the bakeries sit together on one street.

    The fashion district is full of small clothing shops.

    We ate dinner in the old theater district downtown.

    UsageOften the + a word + district: the fashion district. Names use a capital: the Lake District.

    Similarquarter, area, neighborhood, zone

    Note
  3. 3
    divide upverbtransitive
    To split a place into separate areas for government, elections, or other purposes.

    Like drawing lines on a map to make smaller sections.

    The state plans to district the new region for elections.

    The town was districted into four voting areas, each with its own council seat.

    UsageOften said with into: districted into four areas.

    Similardivide, partition, zone

Less common meanings

  1. 4
    adjectiveobsolete
    Very strict, demanding, and harsh.
    punishing with the rod of district severity
    1563, John Foxe, Actes and Monuments of These Latter and Perillous DayesHere, district means strict and harsh, so the punishment is severe.
    Note
  2. 5
    noun
    In mining, a part of the coal face, usually with its own name, where certain layers of coal are dug out.

Practice

Can you tell the meanings of district apart? Answer 4 quick questions from this page, or write your own sentence and AI will check it.

Origin

From French district, from Latin distringere, meaning "to draw apart", made from dis- ("apart") and stringere ("to draw tight").

Checked 5 Nov 2026 · 4 facts