Purveys

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. Provides or supplies goods, services, or information usually for others to use or consume
2. Acts as a source or supplier of products, offerings, or data to consumers or clients
3. Distributes or makes available items, services, or knowledge to an audience or market

Etymology: "Purveys" is the third-person singular form of "purvey," and the verb's history is a neat case of one Latin word splitting into two English words. The verb came into Middle English as "purveien," borrowed through Anglo-Norman and Old French "porveeir," all tracing back to the Latin "providere," meaning "to provide" or "to foresee." Its sibling in English is "provide" itself, a doublet that took the more direct route into the language. The two forms diverged because "purvey" passed through the French-speaking world of medieval England, where it was used in a particular practical sense: to procure food and supplies, especially for a royal household or army. The "pro-" prefix of the Latin original had softened to "pur-" along the way, and the verb's early meaning was closer to arranging provisions in advance than to the broader idea of supplying anything. Over the centuries that sense widened until "purvey" could describe distributing goods, services, or information to any market or audience.

Synonyms: supplies, provides, furnishes, delivers, dispenses

Antonyms: withholds, denies, retains, keeps, holds back