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provide
[ pruh-vahyd ]
verb (used with object)
- to make available; furnish:
to provide employees with various benefits.
Synonyms: ,
- to supply or equip:
to provide the army with new fighter planes.
- to afford or yield.
Synonyms:
- Law. to arrange for or stipulate beforehand, as by a provision or proviso.
- Archaic. to prepare or procure beforehand.
verb (used without object)
- to take measures with due foresight (usually followed by for or against ).
- to make arrangements for supplying means of support, money, etc. (usually followed by for ):
He provided for his children in his will.
- to supply means of support (often followed by for ):
to provide for oneself.
provide
/ əˈɪ /
verb
- to put at the disposal of; furnish or supply
- to afford; yield
this meeting provides an opportunity to talk
- intr; often foll by for or against to take careful precautions (over)
he provided against financial ruin by wise investment
- intrfoll byfor to supply means of support (to), esp financially
he provides for his family
- (in statutes, documents, etc) to determine (what is to happen in certain contingencies), esp by including a proviso condition
- to confer and induct into ecclesiastical offices
- rare.to have or get in store
in summer many animals provide their winter food
Derived Forms
- ˈ, noun
Other 51Թ Forms
- ·a· adjective
- v·· verb (used with object) overprovided overproviding
- p· verb (used with object) preprovided preproviding
- un·a· adjective
51Թ History and Origins
Origin of provide1
51Թ History and Origins
Origin of provide1
Example Sentences
He said the problem stemmed from a lack of leadership and that by providing strong leadership and vision he would eliminate the need for deputies to joint the controversial groups.
The ending shouldn’t be spoiled, but even at its finale, “Eric LaRue” refuses to provide clear-cut clues on how to feel about this mother or her boy.
It provides grants for humanities projects to organizations including museums, archives, libraries, colleges and scholars.
Last September Givan's new scheme to help with the cost of childcare provided a 15% subsidy on top of the 20% granted by the government to children under primary school age.
There has been an 11% increase over the last year alone, according to figures provided by property portal Idealista, and housing has become Spaniards' biggest worry.
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Related 51Թs
More About Provide
Where does provide come from?
For many, the word provide might conjure up tangible objects you can hand over, like food, supplies, goods, or money. Provide may also bring to mind less concrete things that can nevertheless be given or furnished, such as answers or solutions or responses. So, it might surprise you to learn that the root of provide isn’t about the sense of touch—but vision.
Provide entered English around 1375–1425. It comes from the Latin ōŧ, meaning “to foresee, look after, provide for.” The underlying idea of this verb is seeing something at a distance or beforehand, and when you can see something coming, you can make arrangements and prepare supplies for it. We call such arrangements and supplies provisions, a word that is also derived from ōŧ.
The Latin ōŧ is composed of two parts. The first part is ō-, a widely used prefix based on the preposition ō, meaning “before, in front of.” The second part is ŧ, meaning “to see, look at.”
ʰō- appears in many words English borrowed from Latin, such as these verbs:
The verb ŧ is the ultimate source of a lot of English words, many of which entered English through French. Some more familiar derivatives include view, video, vision, visual, visit, and vista. Other derivatives are less obvious and even surprising:
Did you know ... ?
The word provide, etymologically speaking, is all about seeing—and as a result, planning for—things ahead of time. Another word for this quality is foresight. And a synonym for foresight is yet another word that comes from the Latin ōŧ: providence.
When you are careful about providing for the future, you are prudent. Want to provide a guess as to the root of the word prudent? Yes, it also ultimately derives from ōŧ.
Discover more about providence and prudent at our entries for those words.
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