prover

Forms

prover (first-person singular present provejo, first-person singular preterite provi, past participle provido)^[1] Medieval texts write prouéér and proueer in the 13th century, proveer in the 14th and prouveer in the 15th.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin prōvideō (“to foresee; to provide for”), written Old Galician-Portuguese proueer in the oldest texts.^[2][4][3] Nascentes traces it through the archaic Old Galician-Portuguese proveer, and Wiktionary describes the change as the loss of the second syllable of the Latin word.^[5][1]

The same Latin verb gave Galician prover, Spanish proveer, Old Occitan provezer, French pourvoir and Italian provvedere.^[6][1]

The Latin verb is formed from prō- (“forward, before”) and videō (“to see”).^[1][7]

Earliest recorded meaning

Lorenzo's earliest records are charters of the 13th century: in 1264 prouéérdes ben a el “you shall provide well for him” (a friar who comes for the fruit, and his men), in 1270 deuedes a proueer da terra “you must provide for the land”, and before 1273 e proueermos essa capela de calez “and we shall provide that chapel with a chalice”.^[3] The sense is already “to supply with what is needed”.^[3][2]

Semantic evolution

The Galician translation of the Crónica Geral (1344) has porque ey de proveer toda a terra “because I must provide for the whole land”.^[3] Houaiss dates to the 14th century the senses “to take measures about, arrange” and “to meet a need, come to the aid of”, as in Deus provê.^[2] The use for appointing someone to an office matches Medieval Latin providere “to appoint”.^[8][2]

Barbosa (1611) renders it with Latin prospicio, provideo and consulo, and Bluteau gives prover ao bem publico “to see to the public good” and prover de paõ, de trigo “to supply with bread, with wheat”.^[9][10] Feijó (1734) sets the spelling prover against porver.^[11] In law the verb came to mean “to grant (an appeal)”.^[2][12] Michaelis quotes Padre António Vieira's play on the verb and provar: Primeiro os provou, depois os proveu “first he tested them, then he provided for them”.^[13]

Timeline

• 1264 – prouéérdes ben a el in a charter.^[3]
• 1270 – deuedes a proueer da terra.^[3]
• before 1298 – proueã do meu in a will.^[3]
• 1344 – the Crónica Geral has proveer toda a terra.^[3]
• 14th century – the senses “to arrange” and “to remedy”.^[2]
• 15th century – the spelling prouveer.^[2]
• 1611 – Barbosa glosses it with Latin provideo and consulo.^[9]
• 1734 – Feijó prescribes prover, not porver.^[11]
• 1789 – Morais's examples include providing a fortress with munitions.^[14]

Meanings

Verb

1. (transitive, also reflexive) To supply or provide with what is needed; to stock up: Proveram o barco de água e lenha.^[2][1][15]
2. To take measures about, arrange, see to; providenciar.^[2][12]
3. To appoint someone to a post; to fill a vacant post.^[2][12][16]
4. (law) To grant or uphold (an appeal).^[2][12]
5. To endow with a quality or gift: A natureza proveu-o de boa memória.^[2][17]
6. (intransitive, with a) To meet a need, come to the aid of, remedy.^[2][13]

Word family

• provedor
• provimento
• desprover

Related words

• providência
• provisão
• provisório
• próvido
• ver
• Latin provideo
• Spanish proveer

Usage notes

Deus proverá “God will provide” is said to reassure someone who is worried.^[17]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Houaiss, Antônio; Villar, Mauro de Salles (2001), Dicionário Houaiss da língua portuguesa, Rio de Janeiro: Objetiva, p. s.v. prover
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i Instituto da Lingua Galega, Dicionario de dicionarios do galego medieval (DDGM), ed. Ernesto González Seoane, Santiago de Compostela: Universidade de Santiago de Compostela, https://ilg.usc.gal/ddgm, p. s.v. proueer
4. ^ Cunha, Antônio Geraldo da (2010), Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa, 4th ed., Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon, p. s.v. prover
5. ^ Nascentes, Antenor (1966), Dicionário etimológico resumido, Rio de Janeiro: Instituto Nacional do Livro, p. s.v. prover
6. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter, p. 6793a
7. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. s.v. prōuideō
8. ^ Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill, p. s.v. providere
9. ^ a b Barbosa, Agostinho (1611), Dictionarium lusitanicolatinum, Braga: Fructuoso Lourenço de Basto (CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. prover
10. ^ Bluteau, Raphael (1712–1728), Vocabulario portuguez e latino, 8 vols. + 2 supplement vols., Coimbra / Lisboa (CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. prover
11. ^ a b Feijó, João de Morais Madureira (1734), Orthographia, ou Arte de escrever, e pronunciar com acerto a lingua portugueza, Lisboa (CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. prover
12. ^ a b c d Ferreira, Aurélio Buarque de Holanda, Novo dicionário Aurélio da língua portuguesa, digital edition, p. s.v. prover
13. ^ a b Michaelis: Moderno Dicionário da Língua Portuguesa, São Paulo: Melhoramentos (online as Michaelis Dicionário Brasileiro da Língua Portuguesa, https://michaelis.uol.com.br), p. s.v. prover
14. ^ Silva, António de Morais (1789), Diccionario da lingua portugueza composto pelo padre D. Rafael Bluteau, reformado, e accrescentado, 2 vols., Lisboa: Simão Thaddeo Ferreira, p. 2, 260
15. ^ Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa, Lisboa: Priberam Informática, https://dicionario.priberam.org, p. s.v. prover
16. ^ Academia das Ciências de Lisboa, Dicionário da Língua Portuguesa, revised online edition (2023–) of the Dicionário da Língua Portuguesa Contemporânea (2001), https://dicionario.acad-ciencias.pt, p. s.v. prover
17. ^ a b Aulete, Francisco Júlio Caldas, Dicionário contemporâneo da língua portuguesa (1st ed. 1881), online as Aulete Digital, Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon, https://aulete.com.br, p. s.v. prover