Other forms: provisions, provisioning, provisioned
Provision is the supplying of something people need. The provision of school places by a council, the provision of clean water to a village, ramps and hearing loops as provision for disabled visitors.
It nearly always takes OF: the provision of housing, the provision of care. To make provision for something is to set money, space or a plan aside for it in advance. In a contract or a law, a provision is a single clause — the provision that lets you cancel within fourteen days — so one law holds many provisions. In the plural and out in the world, provisions are food and supplies: a ship loaded with provisions for six months. The verb is narrower, used of ships, armies and, these days, computers: you provision a server before anyone can log in.
1nounprovisionThe act of supplying something that people need.~43%
“The charity is responsible for the provision of hot meals to the shelter.”
formal in this meaning — an editor’s judgement
2nounaccessSomething supplied or arranged to meet a need, especially a service or facility.~32%
“Provision for wheelchair users at the station is still poor.”
formal in this meaning — an editor’s judgement
synonyms: facilities, resources
3nounclauseA single condition or clause in a law, contract or agreement.~21%
“A provision in the lease bans pets of any kind.”
formal in this meaning — an editor’s judgement
synonyms: clause, stipulation
4nounstoresFood and other supplies gathered for a journey or a long stay; used in the plural.~2%
“They loaded the boat with provisions for three weeks at sea.”
synonyms: supplies, stores
5verbequipTo supply a ship, army or system with what it needs to operate.~2%
“The engineer provisioned a new server for the finance team.”
Shares are an estimate: a language model read 19 sentences found in the wild and placed 18 of them on a sense (1 were unclear) — a count of our sample, not a measurement of English.
Provision came through Middle English provisioun and Old French from Latin prōvīsiō, which meant preparation and foresight, from prōvideō, to provide. The Latin verb is literally about seeing ahead, and that is still the heart of the word: a provision is something arranged before it is needed.
Proto-Indo-European
*per-
Latin
prōvīsiō — preparation, foresight
Old French
provision
Middle English
provisioun
English, today
provision
Built from
From Middle English provisioun, from Old French provision, from Latin prōvīsiō (“preparation, foresight”), from prōvideō (“provide”).
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA