Pro*vide" (?), v. t. [imp. & p.
p. Provided; p. pr. & vb. n.
Providing.] [L. providere, provisum; pro
before + videre to see. See Vision, and cf.
Prudent, Purvey.] 1. To look out
for in advance; to procure beforehand; to get, collect, or make ready
for future use; to prepare. "Provide us all things
necessary." Shak.
2. To supply; to afford; to
contribute.
Bring me berries, or such cooling fruit
As the kind, hospitable woods provide.
Milton.
3. To furnish; to supply; -- formerly followed
by of, now by with. "And yet provided him
of but one." Jer. Taylor. "Rome . . . was well provided
with corn." Arbuthnot.
4. To establish as a previous condition; to
stipulate; as, the contract provides that the work be well
done.
5. To foresee. [A Latinism]
[Obs.] B. Jonson.
6. To appoint to an ecclesiastical benefice
before it is vacant. See Provisor. Prescott.
Pro*vide", v. i. 1.
To procure supplies or means in advance; to take measures
beforehand in view of an expected or a possible future need,
especially a danger or an evil; -- followed by against or for;
as, to provide against the inclemency of the weather; to
provide for the education of a child.
Government is a contrivance of human wisdom to
provide for human wants.
Burke.
2. To stipulate previously; to condition; as,
the agreement provides for an early completion of the
work.
