Provides

Part of speech: verb

Pronunciation: /pɹəˈvaɪdz/

Definitions

1. To supply something needed or wanted to a person or group
2. To make available or furnish something for use or benefit
3. To give or hand over something required or desired

Etymology: "Provides" is the third-person singular present form of "provide," so its story is really the story of the verb. The verb traces back to Latin "prōvidēre," built from "pro-" (forward, before) and "vidēre" (to see), so its original sense was literally to see ahead. That foresight idea is still visible in the older meaning of "provide," which was to plan for or prepare against something coming, before the sense of supplying what is needed took over. The English verb came through Middle English "providen," which kept that Latin sense of foreseeing and preparing. Over time the emphasis shifted from anticipating a need to meeting it, so that someone who provides for a family is now seen as supplying what that family will require. "Provide" is also a doublet of "purvey," the two words descending from the same Latin source by different routes, with "purvey" keeping a narrower sense of procuring supplies.

Synonyms: supplies, furnishes, delivers, offers, contributes

Antonyms: withholds, deprives, denies, takes, removes