purveyance

[ per-vey-uhns ]

/ pərˈveɪ əns /

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noun

something that is purveyed, as provisions.

English Law. a prerogative of the crown, abolished in 1660, allowing provisions, supplies, or services for the sovereign or the royal household to be purchased or acquired at an appraised value.

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Origin of purveyance

1225–75; purvey + -ance; replacing Middle English purvea(u)nce, purvya(u)nce<Old French purveance<Latin prōvidentia.See providence

OTHER WORDS FROM purveyance

non·pur·vey·ance, noun

Words nearby purveyance

purulent, puruloid, Purús, purusha, purvey, purveyance, purveyor, purview, pus, Pusan, Pusey

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use purveyance in a sentence

The royal household was a complex 'body corporate' founded in the old days of 'purveyance.'
The English Utilitarians, Volume I.|Leslie Stephen
Of course, fertile invention was brought to bear in its purveyance, but that only made it the more exciting.
The One-Way Trail|Ridgwell Cullum
He made huge forced loans, and employed recklessly the abuse of purveyance.
Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 9, Slice 5|Various
One Valet, entrusted with the purveyance, had obtained permission to wear the cassock.
The Makers of Canada: Bishop Laval|A. Leblond de Brumath

Coemptio (purveyance) of wheat or lard not to be claimed from the citizens of Rhegium, xii.
The Letters of Cassiodorus|Cassiodorus (AKA Magnus Aurelius Cassiodorus Senator)

British Dictionary definitions for purveyance

purveyance

/ (pəˈveɪəns) /

noun

history the collection or requisition of provisions for a sovereign

rare the act of purveying

rare that which is purveyed

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