Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • transitive verb To supply or sell (food, for example).
  • transitive verb To seek to disseminate.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • To foresee.
  • To provide; supply; furnish; especially (in modern use), to provide or supply provisions or other necessaries for (a number of persons).
  • To provide; make provision; purchase or supply provisions, especially for a number.
  • To pander: with to.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • transitive verb To furnish or provide, as with a convenience, provisions, or the like.
  • transitive verb To procure; to get.
  • intransitive verb To purchase provisions; to provide; to make provision.
  • intransitive verb rare, rare To pander; -- with to.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • verb intransitive, obsolete To prepare in advance (for or to do something); to plan, make provision.
  • verb transitive To furnish or provide.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • verb supply with provisions

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Middle English purveien, from Anglo-Norman purveier, from Latin prōvidēre; see provide.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Anglo-Norman purveer, purveir et al., Old French porveeir, porveoir, from Latin prōvidēre ("to provide"). Compare provide.

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