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Definition of provide - 5 dictionary results

pro⋅vide

  [pruh-vahyd] verb, -vid⋅ed, -vid⋅ing.
Use provide in a Sentence
–verb (used with object)
1. to make available; furnish: to provide employees with various benefits.
2. to supply or equip: to provide the army with new fighter planes.
3. to afford or yield.
4. Law. to arrange for or stipulate beforehand, as by a provision or proviso.
5. Archaic. to prepare or procure beforehand.
–verb (used without object)
6. to take measures with due foresight (usually fol. by for or against).
7. to make arrangements for supplying means of support, money, etc. (usually fol. by for): He provided for his children in his will.
8. to supply means of support (often fol. by for): to provide for oneself.
Origin:
1375–1425; late ME providen < L prōvidēre to foresee, look after, provide for, equiv. to prō- pro- 1 + vidēre to see

Related forms:
pro⋅vid⋅a⋅ble, adjective

Synonyms:
1. give, render. 3. produce.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To provide
pro·vide   (prə-vīd')   
v.   pro·vid·ed, pro·vid·ing, pro·vides

v.   tr.
  1. To furnish; supply: provide food and shelter for a family.
  2. To make available; afford: a room that provides ample sunlight through French windows.
  3. To set down as a stipulation: an agreement that provides deadlines for completion of the work.
  4. Archaic To make ready ahead of time; prepare.
v.   intr.
  1. To take measures in preparation: provided for the common defense of the states in time of war.
  2. To supply means of subsistence: She provides for her family by working in a hospital.
  3. To make a stipulation or condition: The Constitution provides for a bicameral legislature.

[Middle English providen, from Latin prōvidēre, to provide for : prō-, forward; see pro-1 + vidēre, to see; see weid- in Indo-European roots.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Provide

Pro*vide"\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Provided; p. pr. & vb. n. Providing.] [L. providere, provisum; pro before + videre to see. See Vision, and cf. Prudent, Purvey.]

1. To look out for in advance; to procure beforehand; to get, collect, or make ready for future use; to prepare. "Provide us all things necessary." --Shak.

2. To supply; to afford; to contribute.

Bring me berries, or such cooling fruit As the kind, hospitable woods provide. --Milton.

3. To furnish; to supply; -- formerly followed by of, now by with. "And yet provided him of but one." --Jer. Taylor. "Rome . . . was well provided with corn." --Arbuthnot.

4. To establish as a previous condition; to stipulate; as, the contract provides that the work be well done.

5. To foresee.

Note: [A Latinism] [Obs.] --B. Jonson.

6. To appoint to an ecclesiastical benefice before it is vacant. See Provisor. --Prescott.

Provide

Pro*vide"\, v. i. 1. To procure supplies or means in advance; to take measures beforehand in view of an expected or a possible future need, especially a danger or an evil; -- followed by against or for; as, to provide against the inclemency of the weather; to provide for the education of a child.

Government is a contrivance of human wisdom to provide for human wants. --Burke.

2. To stipulate previously; to condition; as, the agreement provides for an early completion of the work.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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Language Translation for : provide
Spanish: proporcionar, proveer, suministrar, facilitar,
German: be-, versorgen,
Japanese: 与える
More Translations »

provide 
1407, from L. providere "look ahead, prepare, supply," from pro- "ahead" + videre "to see" (see vision).
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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