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Synonyms

provide

American

[pruh-vahyd] / prəˈvaɪd /

verb (used with object)

to make available; furnish.

to provide employees with various benefits.

Synonyms:

render, give
to supply or equip.

to provide the army with new fighter planes.
to afford or yield.

Synonyms:

produce
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 oragainst ).
to make arrangements for supplying means of support, money, etc. (usually followed byfor ).

He provided for his children in his will.
to supply means of support (often followed byfor ).

to provide for oneself.

provide British

/ prəˈvaɪd /

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
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

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Usage

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 prōvidēre, 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 prōvidēre. The Latin prōvidēre is composed of two parts. The first part is prō-, a widely used prefix based on the preposition prō, meaning “before, in front of.” The second part is vidēre, meaning “to see, look at.”Prō- appears in many words English borrowed from Latin, such as these verbs:

The verb vidēre 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:

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

Inflected Forms

Participles

Conjugated Forms

Present

Past

Future

Etymology

Origin of provide

First recorded in 1375–1425; late Middle English providen, Latin prōvidēre “to foresee, look after, provide for,” equivalent to prō- pro- ¹ + vidēre “to see”; cf. video ( def. )

Explanation

To provide means to give or supply. When you stay in a bed and breakfast, the innkeeper will generally provide you with a meal in the morning as part of the price of the room. The verb provide generally means to make available or even to allow. The Constitution, for example, provides for protected freedom of speech. But you've probably also heard people talking about getting a job to provide for their family — in that case, to provide means to make money to pay for food and bills, or in other words, bring home the bacon.

Keep Reading on Vocabulary.com

Vocabulary lists containing provide

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Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

See Examples For:

provide provides provided providing

“Iran’s control is designed to provide tools to deny access to hostile vessels,” Vaez said.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 8, 2026

Parke Skelton, a retired veteran Democratic political consultant, said that he expects the slate mailers, field volunteers and other support that each organization can provide their endorsed candidate will wash out.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 7, 2026

Train operators in Britain are not legally required to provide onboard toilets.

From BBC ● Aug. 7, 2026

Together, these papers provide new insight into how the genome's 3D organization shapes human development, aging, and numerous diseases.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 7, 2026

If she wants to leave again, he says, she will have to provide a “complete understanding relative to her movements.”

From "At Last She Stood" by Erin Entrada Kelly

She recently tried to sign up for Dorsia, a new members-only platform that provides premium reservations for steep fees and is named for the impossible-to-book restaurant in the Bret Easton Ellis book “American Psycho.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 7, 2026

"Sometimes, your technique can slip a little bit, in T20 cricket especially." added Buttler, who was speaking while promoting the ECB's Cricket Cities project, which provides opportunities to get active through cricket.

From BBC ● Aug. 7, 2026

Importantly, Swarm provides continuous global coverage over many years, allowing scientists to track how core dynamics evolve over time rather than relying only on ground-based magnetic observatories.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 7, 2026

Homeland Security did not return requests for comment but frequently says it provides comprehensive medical, dental and mental health care, which officials tout as the best healthcare many detainees ever received.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 6, 2026

The continuous spiral provides for uninterrupted viewing, conducive to studying art.

From "History of Art, Volume 1" by H.W. Janson

The victims, they said, then provided the license plate of the suspect’s vehicle.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 7, 2026

Durham County Council said it provided "practical advice" to veterans, "connecting them with the services and support they need within their local communities".

From BBC ● Aug. 7, 2026

Globalization suddenly gave money and means for people to move; smuggling networks rose up; smartphones provided instant feedback on the best routes.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 7, 2026

They also looked at an unpublished study on ferrets which found that the research-grade version of Ervebo provided 100-percent protection against Bundibugyo, whereas all control animals died within 10 days.

From Barron's ● Aug. 7, 2026

At nine, we hauled a backpack filled with apples and books to read beneath pine trees that provided shelter from the summer heat.

From "Legendary Frybread Drive-In" by Cynthia Leitich Smith

Aarthi Swaminathan listed four types of home renovations and how their costs could be lowered, while providing a guide on how to put your dollars to best use while preparing a house for sale.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 7, 2026

What England has been exceptionally good at is providing the environment in which elite talents become global stars.

From BBC ● Aug. 7, 2026

The company in July said it would start guaranteeing the quality of its Whoppers, committing to remake orders on the spot if customers deem them unsatisfactory, and providing a future Whopper for free.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 6, 2026

The plant -- which is close to the front line of the war -- has repeatedly suffered power cuts, with emergency diesel generators providing power for crucial cooling functions.

From Barron's ● Aug. 6, 2026

He describes the phases as providing ‘strong evidence that Venus moves in a sun-centred orbit’ when one might rather say that they provide conclusive evidence.

From "The Invention of Science" by David Wootton

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023