Providing

How to spell providing

9 letters · 3 syllables

How to pronounce providing

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does providing mean?

1. verbSupplying or making something available to someone who needs it.
2. conjunctionOn the condition that; if and only if a stated requirement is met.

Providing in a sentence

• verb

  The charity is providing hot meals to families this winter.

• conjunction

  You can keep the deposit, providing the contract is signed by Friday.

• verb

  The company thanked staff for providing such detailed feedback.

• conjunction

  The flight will depart on time, providing the weather stays clear.

Where does providing come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word descends from the Latin verb providere, which literally meant 'to see ahead' or 'to foresee', built from pro 'ahead, forward' and videre 'to see'. Because seeing trouble coming naturally leads to preparing for it, the sense broadened in Latin to 'make ready, look after, supply', and English borrowed the verb 'provide' in the fifteenth century with that practical meaning of furnishing what is needed. The same videre root sits inside a whole family of familiar relatives, including 'vision', 'provision', 'evident' and even 'prudent', which is simply a worn-down form of 'provident'. The present participle 'providing' later took on a second life as a conjunction meaning 'on the condition that', since a stipulation is a kind of forward-looking safeguard. The spelling keeps a single d and the plain -ing ending, so the main thing to remember is that there is no double letter and no tricky vowel swap.

How the word is built

• pro- (ahead, forward)
• vid (see, from Latin videre)
• -ing (present participle suffix)