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A.Word.A.Day--provender

Pronunciation RealAudio

provender (PROV-uhn-duhr) noun

1. Dry food used as livestock feed.

2. Food or provisions.

[From Middle English provendre, from Old French, alteration of provende, from Medieval Latin provenda, alteration of praebenda. Ultimately from Indo-European root ghebh- (to give or receive) that gave us give, debt, duty, habit, endeavor, able, inhibit, and malady.]

See more usage examples of provender in Vocabulary.com's dictionary.

"Last year nearly 34,000 people were involved in the urban gardening program. It's an impressive figure to be sure, but according to the county agent, the very process of tilling and watering may be more important than the provender." Joan Kaufman; The Greening of New York City; The Wall Street Journal (New York); Apr 23, 1985.

This week's theme: miscellaneous words.

X-Bonus

If they can get you asking the wrong questions, they don't have to worry about the answers. -Thomas Pynchon, writer (1937- )

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