precinct: [15] The notion underlying precinct is of ‘encirclement’ or ‘enclosure’. It comes from the past participle of Latin praecingere ‘gird about, surround’. This was a compound verb formed from the prefix prae- ‘before, around’ and cingere ‘encircle with a belt’ (source of English cincture [16]). From the underlying notion come the twin modern meanings of an ‘area enclosed by walls’ and a ‘delimited district within a city’ (mainly used in American English). => cincture[precinct etymology, precinct origin, 英语词源]