The word "provincial" has several meanings. However, as with the concept of "province." In colloquial speech, these words are often used as epithets, labels expressing the relation to a set of character traits, appearance and manners of human behavior. But, in addition to colloquial speech, there are quite “official” various options for understanding these words.
Options for the word
A provincial is a person who does not live in the capital, in the outback of the state. This is the most common and common understanding of the word. But not the only one.
For example, in the Catholic Church there is the term “provincial”, and its meaning is in no way connected with the territorial residence of a person. In the list of Catholic ranks, a provincial is the head of a separate congregation, a prior, relating to a particular order, for example, a Jesuit, Dominican or other.
Historically, the word has had a meaning in public service. That is, they called the position of officials. It was established during the reign of Peter the Great. According to the ranking table of the time, the provincial is a fiscal in charge of secret surveillance of officials in the provinces.
In colloquial speech, the word is an epithet, a label that is hung on a person who causes neglect due to his backwardness from the demands of fashion, lifestyle and anything else. That is, in conversations the provincial is a backward person with a narrowed horizons and limitedness in something noticeable to other people.
In the Roman Empire, provincials called residents of subordinate territories. That is, according to the ancient Roman understanding of the word, the provincial was a person who is a resident, a citizen of the captured cities and states.
Who should be considered a provincial?
By definition, a province is a territorial and, of course, administrative state nominal unit within one country.
This concept includes the full territories of regions, provinces, districts and each specific provincial city. Accordingly, any person living outside the capital is a provincial resident. This means that the provincial is equally a citizen and a peasant. In terms of understanding the word "provincial", villagers are no different from people living in cities.
However, there is some paradox in colloquial speech. It consists in the fact that for a resident of each city a provincial may be a person who has arrived from a place farther from the capital or from a smaller settlement. For example, for Vologda residents are Cherepovets. And the same Vologda residents will act as provincials if they come to a city located closer to Moscow, for example, to Tver or to Yaroslavl. However, in this situation Cherepovets will also act as provincials, as well as Vologda residents. But both those and others, as well as residents of cities located near the capital, will be in the status of provincials if they come to Moscow.
Thus, a resident of the province is any person whose home is outside the capital.
Where did this word come from?
The roots of the word are in Latin. In Latin, it sounds like “provincia”. Its origin is explained by a combination of two words.
The first of them is “pro”, which means an excerpt from the name, does not have an exact translation, nor does it have an analog in meaning in our language. The second word is vincere. It means "control over something." That is, the word "province" appeared when there was a need for a term for territories subject to Rome. And already from him the word "provincial" was formed.