provide for

provide (prəˈvaɪd)

—vb (foll by for)
1.	to put at the disposal of; furnish or supply
2.	to afford; yield: this meeting provides an opportunity to talk
3.	(intr; often foll by for or against) to take careful precautions (over): he provided against financial ruin by wise investment
4.	to supply means of support (to), esp financially: he provides for his family
5.	(in statutes, documents, etc) to determine (what is to happen in certain contingencies), esp by including a proviso condition
6.	to confer and induct into ecclesiastical offices
7.	rare to have or get in store: in summer many animals provide their winter food

[C15: from Latin prōvidēre to provide for, from prō- beforehand + vidēre to see]

pro'vider

—n

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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Etymonline

Word Origin & History

provide

1407, from L. providere "look ahead, prepare, supply," from pro- "ahead" + videre "to see" (see vision).

Matching Quote

"If experience has established any one thing in this world, it has established this: that it is well for any great class and description of men in society to be able to say for itself what it wants, and not to have other classes, the so-called educated and intelligent classes, acting for it as its proctors, and supposed to understand its wants and to provide for them.... A class of men may often itself not either fully understand its wants, or adequately express them; but it has a nearer interest and a more sure diligence in the matter than any of its proctors, and therefore a better chance of success."

-Matthew Arnold

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