provant

English

Adjective

provant (comparative more provant, superlative most provant)

1. (obsolete) Provided for common or general use, as in an army; hence, common in quality, i.e. inferior.
   • 1598, Beniamin Ionson [i.e., Ben Jonson], “Euery Man in His Humour. A Comœdie. […]”, in The Workes of Beniamin Ionson (First Folio), London: […] Will[iam] Stansby, published 1616, →OCLC, Act III, scene i:

     a poor provant rapier

Noun

provant

1. (obsolete) provisions; food
   • c. 1620, anonymous, “Tom o’ Bedlam’s Song” in Giles Earle his Booke (British Museum, Additional MSS. 24, 665):

     When I want prouant w^th: Humfrie
     I sup, & when benighted,
     I repose in Powles w^th: waking soules,
     Yet neuer am affrighted.

     When I lack food, I go
     without it, and when benighted,
     I repose in St. Paul’s (graveyard) with ghosts,
     Yet am never scared.

   • c. 1612–1615?, John Fletcher, Francis Beaumont, revised by Philip Massinger, “Loves Cure or, The Martial Maid”, in Comedies and Tragedies […], London: […] Humphrey Robinson, […], and for Humphrey Moseley […], published 1647, →OCLC, Act II, scene i:

     One pease was a soldier's provant a whole day.

Verb

provant (third-person singular simple present provants, present participle provanting, simple past and past participle provanted)

1. (obsolete, transitive) To supply with provisions; to provide for.
   • 1599, Thomas Nash, Nashes Lenten Stuffe‎:

     ...should not only supply her inhabitants with plentiful purveyance of sustenance, but provant and victual moreover this monstrous army of strangers […]

Related terms

• provand

References

• “provant”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.

Catalan

Verb

provant

1. gerund of provar