proviso

P3R1O1V4I1S1O1
/pɹəˈvaɪzoʊ/

noun

A conditional provision to an agreement.

Similar
Less commonScrabble 12

Meanings

proviso1

nounproviso (plural provisos or provisoes)

plural provisos · plural provisoes

  1. A conditional provision to an agreement.

    The writing has been on the wall that Americans’ support for mass deportation was subject to all kinds of caveats and provisos.

    2025 July 13, Aaron Blake, “Trump’s mass deportation is backfiring”, in CNN, archived from the original on 17 Jul 2025
    2 more examples

    Now, with all these provisos in mind, what’s the best way to put spinach to work? All due respect to Popeye, a can may not be the tastiest way to introduce it to your table.

    2021 July 1, Gregory McNamee, “Does spinach make you strong? Ask Popeye – and science”, in CNN, archived from the original on 24 Aug 2025

    The biggest change in the governance of American horse racing was tucked into a 2020 federal spending bill. That proviso ultimately created the national Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority, or HISA – a move that, after three previous legislative attempts, found support from federal lawmakers after a particularly deadly season at a California racetrack.

    2023 June 10, Majlie de Puy Kamp, Curt Devine, Audrey Ash, Casey Tolan, Allison Gordon and Pamela Brown, “As horse racing’s best trainers rake in millions, records show they’ve violated rules aimed at keeping the animals safe”, in CNN, archived from the original on 04 Mar 2025

Proviso2

Synonyms & antonyms

nouna stipulated condition

Similar

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Origin

proviso · noun

  1. Latinproviso“it being provided”
  2. Englishproviso

Borrowed from Latin proviso (“it being provided”), ablative singular neuter of provisus, past participle of providere (“to provide”); see provide.

Full word history & related roots →

Proviso · proper noun

Named for the Wilmot Proviso.

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Bulgarian условие, уговорка
  • условие (uslovie)conditional provision to an agreement
  • уговорка (ugovorka)conditional provision to an agreement
Chinese Mandarin 但書 /但书
  • 但書 /但书 (dànshū)conditional provision to an agreement
Dutch voorbehoud
  • voorbehoudconditional provision to an agreement
Finnish varaus, varauma
  • varausconditional provision to an agreement
  • varaumaconditional provision to an agreement
French provision (à un accord), réserve
  • provision (à un accord)conditional provision to an agreement
  • réserveconditional provision to an agreement
German Bedingung, Maßgabe
  • Bedingungconditional provision to an agreement
  • Maßgabeconditional provision to an agreement
  • Vorbehaltconditional provision to an agreement
  • Vorbehaltsklauselconditional provision to an agreement
  • Kautelconditional provision to an agreement
Japanese 但書
  • 但書 (tadashigaki)conditional provision to an agreement
Norwegian forbehold
  • forbeholdconditional provision to an agreement
Polish klauzula
  • klauzulaconditional provision to an agreement
Russian усло́вие, огово́рка
  • усло́вие (uslóvije)conditional provision to an agreement
  • огово́рка (ogovórka)conditional provision to an agreement
Scottish Gaelic cùmhnant, coingheall
  • cùmhnantconditional provision to an agreement
  • coingheallconditional provision to an agreement
Spanish salvedad
  • salvedadconditional provision to an agreement
Swedish förbehåll, reservation
  • förbehållconditional provision to an agreement
  • reservationconditional provision to an agreement
Cite this entry
APA

proviso. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/proviso

MLA

“proviso.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/proviso. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “proviso,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/proviso.

Source: proviso on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.