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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.

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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

Ahead of these events, the group is asking that employers provide union and living wage jobs, funding for 50,000 units of housing for working families, a moratorium on short-term rentals and protections for immigrant workers.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 20, 2026

The rollout of the new trains would also improve accessibility and provide better Wi-Fi on board, the rail operator said.

From BBC ● Sep. 20, 2026

The scheme, a joint project with the local council, will provide 80 self-contained apartments and communal areas available to the local community.

From BBC ● Sep. 19, 2026

The findings could provide useful clues for engineers seeking to build artificial muscles that move quickly without depending on ATP.

From Science Daily ● Sep. 19, 2026

VED: This information changes the quantitative value of questioning needed to provide comprehensive analysis of hypothetical scenario.

From "The First State of Being" by Erin Entrada Kelly

He pointed to potential competition for services like what Starlink provides outside of the U.S. and China.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 20, 2026

It even provides you with a sense of purpose.”

From Slate ● Sep. 20, 2026

"For now, the study provides something more fundamental: an updated molecular view of one of biology's most remarkable chemical reactions."

From Science Daily ● Sep. 19, 2026

The potential shortfall provides momentum for Caterpillar’s automation push, as the company faces the challenge of selling equipment to companies that don’t have enough operators.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 19, 2026

Although the song does have quite a few words, the refrain is repetitive with only three words, and provides two empty beats for clapping or playing an instrument.

From "Music and the Child" by Natalie Sarrazin

Later observations from the UCR team have provided an unusually close look at the social behavior that may help substances move through these concealed colonies.

From Science Daily ● Sep. 19, 2026

Robust corporate earnings so far this year have indeed provided the fundamental support for major indexes to trade in record territory.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 19, 2026

The reward funds will be made available to anyone who provides information by March 31 that results in a successful prosecution within two years of the date it is provided.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 19, 2026

In a statement, Meta said the glasses provided "critical new technology for people who are low-sighted or hard of hearing and limiting how people can use this technology would be a major step backwards".

From BBC ● Sep. 12, 2026

Many of the villagers provided Mama with milk and cheese, and she made dozens and dozens of bliny for everyone.

From Anya and the Dragon by Sofiya Pasternack

These include rapid diagnosis, isolating infected patients, tracing people who may have been exposed, strengthening infection control, and providing supportive medical care.

From Science Daily ● Sep. 20, 2026

Enter Reinsve and Stan, an ideal pair of leads capable of providing the understated, baseline emotion that Mungiu requires to pull off an undertaking as tricky as “Fjord.”

From Salon ● Sep. 19, 2026

He supported the campaign for an adoption apology by providing evidence from his own research.

From BBC ● Sep. 18, 2026

Nscale’s initial public offering would aim to capitalize on a wave of investor interest in companies providing data centers and the land and power necessary for them to operatem.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 18, 2026

We’d hung a white curtain across it providing a kind of screen while letting in light.

From "The Hiding Place" by Corrie ten Boom

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