district
Definitions
An area of a country or city marked out for administrative or other purposes.
地区，行政区。
A region with a particular feature or character.
（有某种特征的）区域。
Root Breakdown
Root-derivedFrom Latin districtus, from distringere (dis- + stringere) — "to draw tight, to compel, to exercise authority over." A district was originally the territory within which a lord could enforce his rule and rope people to the law. The tightening became jurisdiction.
Root strain still carries 57 more wordsWhy It Means This
district is the family's hidden member: nothing in its modern meaning suggests "tightening." But the medieval logic was that a district was exactly the zone where authority could be tightened — where the lord's distringere (compelling power) reached. Today only the boundary survives; the rope is gone.
Common Collocations
- 1.business district商业区
- 2.school district学区
- 3.residential district住宅区
- 4.district court地区法院
- 5.district attorney地区检察官
Example Sentences
- 1.
They live in a quiet residential district of the city.
- 2.
The case was heard in the district court.