provide

American  

[pruh-vahyd] / prəˈvaɪd /

verb (used with object)

provided, providing

1. to make available; furnish.

   to provide employees with various benefits.

   Synonyms:

   render, give

2. to supply or equip.

   to provide the army with new fighter planes.

3. to afford or yield.

   Synonyms:

   produce

4. Law. to arrange for or stipulate beforehand, as by a provision or proviso.

5. Archaic. to prepare or procure beforehand.

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verb (used without object)

provided, providing

1. to take measures with due foresight (usually followed by for oragainst ).

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

   He provided for his children in his will.

3. to supply means of support (often followed byfor ).

   to provide for oneself.

provide British  

/ prəˈvaɪd /

verb

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

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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:

• procure
• produce
• prohibit
• profess
• protract
• protrude

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:

• advice
• advise
• clairvoyant
• envy
• evidence
• improvise
• invidious
• proviso
• purvey
• purview
• review
• revise
• supervise
• survey
• visa
• visage
• voyeur

Other Word Forms

• overprovide verb (used with object)
• preprovide verb (used with object)
• providable adjective
• provider noun
• unprovidable adjective

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.

Example Sentences

The white, flat terminals, paired with routers, provide internet access by connecting to a network of satellites owned by Elon Musk's SpaceX company, allowing users to completely bypass Iran's heavily controlled domestic internet.

From BBC • May 2, 2026

They had to contact the airline’s reservations team and provide proof that they were supposed to fly on the defunct airline.

From The Wall Street Journal • May 2, 2026

Urbina had fallen prey to “notario fraud,” in which scammers provide legal advice, often by saying they’re public notaries or other legal professionals.

From Salon • May 2, 2026

Researcher Luke Nicholls says AI systems are often bad at saying "I don't know" and instead, want to provide a confident answer that builds on the conversation already built.

From BBC • May 2, 2026

Back then, when a Colored school needed a teacher, the principal would provide the state’s Colored college with the school’s requirements, and the college would send a list of recent graduates who possessed those qualifications.

From "Reaching for the Moon" by Katherine Johnson

Related Words

• afford
• allow
• bring
• grant
• lend
• present
• produce
• render
• serve
• yield