Emily Dickinson Lexicon

PRO-VI'SION, n. [s as z. Fr. from L. provisio, provideo. See Provide.]

1. The act of providing or making previous preparation.
2. Things provided; preparation; measures taken beforehand; either for security, defense or attack, or for the supply of wants. We make provision to defend ourselves from enemies; we make provision for war; we make provision for a voyage or for erecting a building; we make provision for the support of the poor. Government makes provision for its friends.
3. Stores provided; stock; as, provision of victuals; provision of materials. – Knolles. South.
4. Victuals; food; provender; all manner of eatables for man and beast; as, provisions for the table or for the family; provisions for an army. – Milton. Encyc.
5. Previous stipulation; special enactment in a statute; terms or agreement made, or measures taken for a future exigency. In the law, no provision was made to abolish the barbarous customs of the Irish. – Davies. Papal provision, a previous nomination by the pope to a benefice before it became vacant, by which practice the rightful patron was deprived of his presentation. – Blackstone.