The word “district” denotes an administrative unit, a region around a city, or a region within certain boundaries.

When Nehemiah organized the rebuilding of the wall of Jerusalem, he assigned portions to the leaders, or ‘princes,’ and inhabitants of certain ‘districts.’ These districts were named after their principal city, and some (Jerusalem, Beth-zur, Keilah) were double. (Ne 3:9, 12, 14-18) They were evidently subdivisions of the Persian “jurisdictional district,” or “province,” of Judah. (Ne 1:3; KJ, RS) The Hebrew word to designate these districts (peʹlekh) is said to be derived from the Akkadian word pilku, perhaps indicating that they were instituted by the Babylonians after the fall of Jerusalem.​—See JURISDICTIONAL DISTRICT.

The Hebrew term kik·karʹ conveys the idea of something round. It is used to denote a “round loaf” of bread (Ex 29:23), a “circular lid” of lead (Zec 5:7), a “talent” of gold or silver (Ex 25:39; 1Ki 20:39), and a roughly circular “district” or “basin.”​—Ge 13:10, ftn; Ne 12:28.

In the Christian Greek Scriptures, the word hoʹri·on (always plural) literally denotes the “boundaries” or “frontiers” of a geographic area (Ac 13:50; Mt 19:1), but it may also denote that which is enclosed, namely a “district” or “region.” (Mt 2:16; 15:22) The term me·risʹ, used to refer to the “district” of Macedonia in Acts 16:12, literally denotes a “part.”​—Compare Int; Ac 8:21.