Word of the Day

: July 17, 2019

provender

noun PRAH-vun-der

What It Means

1 : dry food for domestic animals : feed

2 : food, victuals

provender in Context

The restaurant's chef-owner prides himself on creating dishes from local provender.

"While these fish with their underslung mouths will eat insects, crayfish, mollusks, and other provender, a garden worm or piece of nightcrawler on the hook will work just fine." — Christopher Balusik, The Mansfield (Ohio) News Journal, 30 Mar. 2019

Did You Know?

When English speakers first chewed on the word provender around 1300, it referred to a stipend (also known as a prebend) that a clergyman received from his cathedral or collegiate church. Within a half a century, the word's current meanings had developed. These days you're most likely to encounter provender in articles written by food and travel writers. A few such writers confuse provender with purveyor, meaning "a person or business that sells or provides something," but most of them keep the words straight, as Deidre Schipani does in this quote from the Post and Courier, of Charleston, South Carolina: "The kitchen remains true to its local roots. Buying from island farmers, fisherman, shrimpers, butchers and small local artisans keeps the provender and purveyors in alignment."