locality

locality, district, vicinity, neighborhood denote a more or less definitely circumscribed place or region, especially from the point of view of those who live in it.

Locality applies to a region of undefined boundaries, but it usually suggests an area round a center (as the place where the speaker or writer lives)

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he no longer resides in this locality

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or round a place remarkable for some event or landmark

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the deliverer is to be sought in the locality nearest to the chief scene of the invasion— Stanley

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District usually applies to a locality that has clearly defined boundaries determined (as by the nation, state, or town) for such purposes as for administrative and electoral use Representative of the Fifth Congressional Districty

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federal judicial districts

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police district

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postal district

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In a less specific but in this instance more pertinent sense district is often applied to a locality with reference to some of its most obvious or clearly defined characteristics rather than to the exact area it covers

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the agricultural districts of the United States

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the Lake District of England

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the mining district of Pennsylvania

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the theater district of a city

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Vicinity never loses its basic implication of nearness but, since it suggests a distinct point of view, it applies only to the locality that is very near from that point of view

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there are no ponds in this vicinity

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Neighborhood usually carries an implied reference to one's neighbors and it may be preferred to vicinity, which it closely resembles in denotation, when the emphasis is on the inhabitants rather than on the locality referred to

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there is no one of that name in this neigh- borhood

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lived in a good neighborhood

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she is on good terms with the entire neighborhood

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However, it is frequently interchangeable with vicinity when the emphasis is on proximity; thus, a man might live in the neighborhood or the vicinity of a school

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the country must be on guard against the establishment of hostile bases in its neighborhood

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Analogous words: region, *area, zone, belt, tract: section, sector (see PART): territory, *field, bailiwick, province, sphere, domain