district

adj

Etymology: From French district, from Medieval Latin districtus (“a district within which the lord may distrain, also jurisdiction”), from Latin districtus, past participle of distringere (“to draw asunder, compel, distrain”), from dis- (“apart”) + stringere (“to draw tight, strain”). Doublet of Detroit.

1. rigorous; stringent; harsh

   “punishing with the rod of district severity”

name

1. The District of Columbia, the federal district of the United States.
2. Any of numerous governmental districts.
3. The District Line of the London Underground, originally known as the District Railway.

   “The District seems complacently salubrious. It is green on the Tube map, an inoffensive colour. It has not one but two bridge crossings of the Thames, which seems greedy when you think that no other [underground] line has even one.”

noun

Etymology: From French district, from Medieval Latin districtus (“a district within which the lord may distrain, also jurisdiction”), from Latin districtus, past participle of distringere (“to draw asunder, compel, distrain”), from dis- (“apart”) + stringere (“to draw tight, strain”). Doublet of Detroit.

1. An administrative division of an area.

   “Soho is a district of London”

   “‘I understand that the district was considered a sort of sanctuary,’ the Chief was saying. ‘An Alsatia like the ancient one behind the Strand, or the Saffron Hill before the First World War.[…]’”

2. An area or region marked by some distinguishing feature.

   “the Lake District in Cumbria”

3. An administrative division of a county without the status of a borough.

   “South Oxfordshire District Council”

4. A specific, usually named area of the coalface where particular seams are worked.

verb

Etymology: From French district, from Medieval Latin districtus (“a district within which the lord may distrain, also jurisdiction”), from Latin districtus, past participle of distringere (“to draw asunder, compel, distrain”), from dis- (“apart”) + stringere (“to draw tight, strain”). Doublet of Detroit.

1. To divide into administrative or other districts.

   “A county districted for voting purposes.”