provisory
Americanadjective
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containing a proviso; conditional
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another word for provisional
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making provision
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of provisory
1605–15; < Medieval Latin prōvīsōrius, equivalent to Latin prōvid-, stem of prōvidēre to provide + -tōrius -tory 1, with dt > s
Explanation
Anything that's provisory is dependent on certain conditions. Your provisory agreement to take your sister to the zoo for the day depends on her agreeing to buy you lunch. When a statement or agreement is described as provisory, that means it has certain qualifications attached to it. In other words, you'll do something, but only if a condition is met. A provisory college acceptance letter might state that it depends on your grades for the final semester of your senior year. The qualification or condition itself is known as a proviso.
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.
My feelings of safety and belonging are still highly provisory.
From The Guardian • Oct. 21, 2020
The airline seats are arranged in a group and function as a provisory sofa for the volunteers.
From Slate • Mar. 13, 2015
If yet in time—ay, such provisory parenthesis was in my mind at the moment.
From The War Trail The Hunt of the Wild Horse by Reid, Mayne
Still there remains an expression in the Arr�t, that it is provisory only.
From Memoir, Correspondence, And Miscellanies, From The Papers Of Thomas Jefferson, Volume 2 by Randolph, Thomas Jefferson
A provisory government was established, entitled the Government of the National Defence.
From The War Upon Religion Being an Account of the Rise and Progress of Anti-christianism in Europe by Cunningham, Francis A. (Francis Aloysius)
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
