Meanings
plural provisions
- countableuncountableAn item of goods or supplies, especially food, obtained for future use.
We have an infirm ſhip's company, and but five months proviſion, which muſt ſerve us to China unleſs we get a ſupply at Guam.
1728 [1721 March 17], William Betagh, A Voyage Round the World. Being an Account of a Remarkable Enterprize, Begun In the Year 1719, chiefly to cruiſe on the Spaniards in the great South Ocean. Relating the True hiſtorical Facts of that whole Affair: Teſtifyd by many imployd therein; and confirmd by Authorities from the Owners., London: T. Combes, →OCLC, page 1512 more examples
[H]e hath preſerued all points of Humanity, in taking Order, and making Proviſion for the Releefe of Strangers diſtreſſed; whereof you have taſted.
1627 (indicated as 1626), Francis [Bacon], “New Atlantis. A Worke Vnfinished.”, in Sylua Syluarum: Or A Naturall Historie. In Ten Centuries. […], London: […] William Rawley […]; [p]rinted by J[ohn] H[aviland] for William Lee […], →OCLC, page 17[Noah] Began to build a Veſſel of huge bulk, / Meaſur'd by Cubit, length, and breadth, and highth, / Smeared round with Pitch, and in the ſide a dore, / Contriv'd, and of proviſions laid in large / For Man and Beaſt: [...]
1674, John Milton, “Book XI”, in Paradise Lost. […], 2nd edition, London: […] S[amuel] Simmons […], →OCLC, page 307 - countableuncountableThe act of providing, or making previous preparation.
Fiue dayes we do allot thee for prouision, To shield thee from disasters of the world,
c. 1603–1606, William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of King Lear”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene i] - countableuncountableMoney set aside for a future event.
And as congressional Republicans were passing a very unpopular Trump agenda bill last month, Vice President JD Vance argued that its historic expansion of Immigration and Customs Enforcement and new immigration enforcement provisions were so important that “everything else” was “immaterial.”
2025 July 13, Aaron Blake, “Trump’s mass deportation is backfiring”, in CNN - countableuncountableaccountingA liability or contra account to recognise likely future adverse events associated with current transactions.
We increased our provision for bad debts on credit sales going into the recession.
- countableuncountablelawA clause in a legal instrument, a law, etc., providing for a particular matter; stipulation; proviso.
An arrest shall be made in accordance with the provisions of this Act.
1 more example
Almost half of MEPs wanted to remove the new provisions' to expand the use of megatrucks but an amendment to do that failed to pass by just six votes.
2024 March 12, ETSC, ETSCSynonyms: condition, disposition, stipulation
- countableuncountableCatholicismRegular induction into a benefice, comprehending nomination, collation, and installation.
- UKcountablehistoricaluncountableA nomination by the pope to a benefice before it became vacant, depriving the patron of his right of presentation.
a papal provision
1765–1769, William Blackstone, Commentaries on the Laws of England, (please specify |book=I to IV), Oxford, Oxfordshire: […] Clarendon Press, →OCLC
present singular third person provisions · participle present provisioning · participle past provisioned · past provisioned
- transitiveTo supply with provisions.
to provision an army
2 more examples
We had soon touched land in the same place as before and set to provision the blockhouse. All three made the first journey, heavily laden, and tossed our stores over the palisade.
1881–1882, Robert Louis Stevenson, Treasure Island, London; Paris: Cassell & Company, published 14 November 1883, →OCLCAn emancipated slave must be provisioned by the master.
2001, David L. Lieber, Jules Harlow, Etz Hayim: Torah and Commentary, page 85 - transitivecomputingTo supply (a user) with an account, resources, etc. so that they can use a system; to install the necessary software on a bare-bones system so it can be used for a specific purpose.
A solution is to provision new systems on a private network where they can receive updates, patches, and secure configurations from an internal repository before being placed into a production network.
2023, Kenneth Hess, Practical Linux System Administration, O'Reilly, →ISBNAntonyms: deprovision
Synonyms & antonyms
nounA clause in a legal instrument, a law, etc., providing for a particular matter; stipulation; proviso.
verbTo supply (a user) with an account, resources, etc. so that they can use a system; to install the necessary software on a bare-bones system so it can be used for a specific purpose.
More synonyms by meaning
nounthe cognitive process of thinking about what you will do in the event of something happening
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Latinprōvīsiō“preparation, foresight”
- Old Frenchprovisïon
- Middle Englishprovisioun
- Englishprovision
From Middle English provisioun, from Old French provisïon, from Latin prōvīsiō (“preparation, foresight”), from prōvidēre (“provide”).
More words from Middle English, Old French, Latin
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Ancient Greek πόρος, ὀψώνιον
- πόρος (póros)item of goods or supplies obtained for future use
- ὀψώνιον (opsṓnion)item of goods or supplies obtained for future use
Bulgarian провизии, снабдяване
- провизии (provizii)item of goods or supplies obtained for future use
- снабдяване (snabdjavane)act of providing
- доставка (dostavka)act of providing
- условие (uslovie)law: clause in a legal instrument
Chinese Mandarin 配给, 條件 /条件
- 配给 (pèijǐ)item of goods or supplies obtained for future use
- 條件 /条件 (tiáojiàn)law: clause in a legal instrument
- 條款 /条款 (tiáokuǎn)law: clause in a legal instrument
Danish forråd, proviant
- forråditem of goods or supplies obtained for future use
- proviantitem of goods or supplies obtained for future use
- hensættelsemoney set aside
Dutch provisie, bevoorrading
- provisieitem of goods or supplies obtained for future use
- bevoorradingitem of goods or supplies obtained for future use
- provianditem of goods or supplies obtained for future use
- voorzieningaccounting: liability or contra account
- bepalinglaw: clause in a legal instrument
Esperanto provianto, provizi
- proviantoitem of goods or supplies obtained for future use
- provizito supply with provisions
Estonian hankima
- hankimato supply with provisions
Finnish eväs, muona
- eväsitem of goods or supplies obtained for future use
- muonaitem of goods or supplies obtained for future use
- varastoitem of goods or supplies obtained for future use
- varausitem of goods or supplies obtained for future use
- varaitem of goods or supplies obtained for future use
- varautuminenact of providing
- varausmoney set aside
- vararahastomoney set aside
- varausaccounting: liability or contra account
- säännöslaw: clause in a legal instrument
- määräyslaw: clause in a legal instrument
- muonittaato supply with provisions
French provision, provision
- provisionitem of goods or supplies obtained for future use
- provisionmoney set aside
- provisionaccounting: liability or contra account
- provisionnerto supply with provisions
German Vorräte, Proviant
- Vorräteitem of goods or supplies obtained for future use
- Proviantitem of goods or supplies obtained for future use
- Vorratitem of goods or supplies obtained for future use
- Bevorratungitem of goods or supplies obtained for future use
- Vorhaltungitem of goods or supplies obtained for future use
- Vorkehrungitem of goods or supplies obtained for future use
- Vorsorgeitem of goods or supplies obtained for future use
- Versorgungact of providing
- Beistellungact of providing
- Vorkehrungact of providing
- Versorgungsleistungact of providing
- Besorgungact of providing
- versorgento supply with provisions
- versehento supply with provisions
- bereitstellento supply with provisions
Greek πρόβλεψη
- πρόβλεψη (próvlepsi)accounting: liability or contra account
Hebrew אַסְפָּקָה, צֵידָה
- אַסְפָּקָה (aspaka)item of goods or supplies obtained for future use
- צֵידָה (tseyda)item of goods or supplies obtained for future use
- הַסְפָּקָה (haspaka)act of providing
- תנאי (tnay)law: clause in a legal instrument
Hungarian ellátmány
- ellátmányitem of goods or supplies obtained for future use
Indonesian penyediaan, provisi
- penyediaanact of providing
- provisiact of providing
Irish lón, oirchill
- lónitem of goods or supplies obtained for future use
- oirchillact of providing
- solátharact of providing
Italian fornitura, disposizione
- fornituraitem of goods or supplies obtained for future use
- disposizioneact of providing
- clausolalaw: clause in a legal instrument
- normalaw: clause in a legal instrument
- disposizionelaw: clause in a legal instrument
Japanese 支給, 配給
- 支給 (shikyū)item of goods or supplies obtained for future use
- 配給 (haikyū)item of goods or supplies obtained for future use
- 準備高 (jyunbi-daka)money set aside
- 支給する (shikyū suru)to supply with provisions
Latin penus, penum
- penusitem of goods or supplies obtained for future use
- penumitem of goods or supplies obtained for future use
Malay peruntukan
- peruntukanact of providing
Māori ō, ōmanapou
- ōitem of goods or supplies obtained for future use
- ōmanapouitem of goods or supplies obtained for future use
- pōwhiriwhiriitem of goods or supplies obtained for future use
- kamengaitem of goods or supplies obtained for future use
Norwegian Bokmål skaffe, fremskaffelse
- skaffeitem of goods or supplies obtained for future use
- fremskaffelseitem of goods or supplies obtained for future use
- leveringact of providing
Polish zaopatrzenie, prowiant
- zaopatrzenieitem of goods or supplies obtained for future use
- prowiantitem of goods or supplies obtained for future use
- aprowizacjaitem of goods or supplies obtained for future use
- aprowizacjaact of providing
- zabezpieczeniemoney set aside
- rezerwaaccounting: liability or contra account
- aprowidowaćto supply with provisions
- zaaprowidowaćto supply with provisions
- zaprowidowaćto supply with provisions
- zaopatrywaćto supply with provisions
Portuguese provisão, mantimento
- provisãoitem of goods or supplies obtained for future use
- mantimentoitem of goods or supplies obtained for future use
- provisãomoney set aside
- proverto supply with provisions
- aprovisionarto supply with provisions
- provisionarto supply with provisions
Romanian provizie
- provizieitem of goods or supplies obtained for future use
Russian снабже́ние, провиа́нт
- снабже́ние (snabžénije)item of goods or supplies obtained for future use
- провиа́нт (proviánt)item of goods or supplies obtained for future use
- обеспече́ние (obespečénije)money set aside
Spanish provisión, alforja
- provisiónitem of goods or supplies obtained for future use
- alforjaitem of goods or supplies obtained for future use
- aprovisionarto supply with provisions
- avituallarto supply with provisions
- pertrecharto supply with provisions
- apertrecharto supply with provisions
- esquifarto supply with provisions
Swedish proviant, bestämmelse
- proviantitem of goods or supplies obtained for future use
- bestämmelselaw: clause in a legal instrument
Turkish zahire
- zahireitem of goods or supplies obtained for future use
Cite this entry
provision. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/provision
“provision.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/provision. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “provision,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/provision.
Source: provision on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.