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provision

Definition, pronunciation, etymology, and usage for the English word. Free spelling reference powered by Wiktionary.

Letters

9 characters

Language

English

word origin

Source

Wiktionary

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Detailed reference entry for the English word "provision", 9-letters, with pronunciation in International Phonetic Alphabet notation, etymology traced through Germanic and Romance roots where applicable, common misspelling variants catalogued from Hunspell error dictionaries, and usage frequency ranked against the top 100,000 English words in the Wordfreq corpus. PlainSpell covers English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German spelling with confusable-pair detection that highlights visually and phonetically similar words. This entry for "provision" includes synonyms, antonyms, homophones, and cross-language translation pointers sourced from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org extract. Whether you are verifying the correct spelling of "provision" for academic writing, checking homophone confusion, or exploring etymological origins, this page provides a citation-backed, free reference that requires no sign-up.

provision is aEnglishnoun. It means: An item of goods or supplies, especially food, obtained for future use. Pronounced /pɹəˈvɪʒ.ən/. It ranks #5,727 in English word frequency. Often confused with proviso and provisions.

Key facts for provision
PropertyValue
Headwordprovision
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/pɹəˈvɪʒ.ən/
Letters9
Frequency rank#5,727
Misspellings tracked14
Confusable pairs4
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency rank visualization

Position of provision in English word frequency (lower rank = more common)

Source: Wordfreq corpus

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

The English entry for provision is 9 letters long, classified as anoun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /pɹəˈvɪʒ.ən/. Corpus data places it at rank #5,727 in overall English word frequency, indicating it appears regularly in written and spoken text.Wiktionary records 7 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.

Our Hunspell-derived misspelling index lists 14 documented wrong-spelling variants for provision, with forms such as "porvision", "pprovision", and "proivsion". Each variant represents a distinct typo pattern that appears often enough in corpora to be worth flagging, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution.It also participates in 4 confusable-pair relationships, "proviso", "provisions", "provisional", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English provisioun, from Old French provisïon, from Latin prōvīsiō (“preparation, foresight”), from prōvidēre (“provide”). Root origin matters for spelling because borrowed morphemes (Greek, Latin, Old French, Old English) carry their source-language orthographic conventions into modern English, which is why historical etymology is often the cleanest predictor of whether a cluster like "-ough", "-eau", or "-tion" will appear. For readers arriving here from a spelling check, the authoritative guidance is: the correct English form is provision, spelled P-R-O-V-I-S-I-O-N, and any other sequence of those letters, regardless of how natural it feels, is a misspelling in standard orthography.

Definition

  1. 1
    An item of goods or supplies, especially food, obtained for future use.
  2. 2
    The act of providing, or making previous preparation.
  3. 3
    Money set aside for a future event.
  4. 4
    A liability or contra account to recognise likely future adverse events associated with current transactions.
  5. 5
    A clause in a legal instrument, a law, etc., providing for a particular matter; stipulation; proviso.
  6. 6
    Regular induction into a benefice, comprehending nomination, collation, and installation.
  7. 7
    A nomination by the pope to a benefice before it became vacant, depriving the patron of his right of presentation.

Etymology

From Middle English provisioun, from Old French provisïon, from Latin prōvīsiō (“preparation, foresight”), from prōvidēre (“provide”).

This word in other languages

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as: porvision,pprovision,proivsion,proviison,provisino,provisionn,provisoin,provission,provition,provsiion,provvision,prrovision,prvoision,rpovision

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

Relative frequency of common misspelling types for provision

Misspelling Variants of "provision"

porvision9pprovision10proivsion9proviison9provisino9provisionn10provisoin9provission10
Misspelling Variants of "provision"

Frequency rank: #5,727 in English

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "provision"?
"provision" is spelled P-R-O-V-I-S-I-O-N. The IPA pronunciation is /pɹəˈvɪʒ.ən/.
What does "provision" mean?
As a noun, "provision" means: An item of goods or supplies, especially food, obtained for future use.
What words are commonly confused with "provision"?
"provision" is commonly confused with "proviso", "provisions", "provisional". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "provision"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "provision" is /pɹəˈvɪʒ.ən/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "provision"?
From Middle English provisioun, from Old French provisïon, from Latin prōvīsiō (“preparation, foresight”), from prōvidēre (“provide”). See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Nearby English words

Other entries that begin with the letter P in our English index:

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Data Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Frequency data from Wordfreq. Misspellings derived from Hunspell dictionaries.