provided

1. 1
   verb

   Simple past and past participle of provide.

   The charity provided shelter to families displaced by the flood.

   Medical supplies were provided by several international donors.

   Note

   One spelling serves both the past tense (the charity provided shelter) and the participle, which pairs with has for the perfect and with was for the passive. The "supply" meaning brings its preposition into the passive: families were provided with shelter, or shelter was provided to them. Do not confuse it with the conditional conjunction, which has the same spelling but stands at the head of a clause.

2. 2
   conjunction

   Used to introduce a condition that must be true for the main statement to hold.

   The loan will be approved, provided the applicant meets the income requirements.

   Employees may work from home, provided they remain available during business hours.

   Similarproviding

   Oppositeunless

   Note

   A conditional with a stricter edge than plain if: the clause it introduces is a requirement, not merely a possibility. It often stretches to provided that, and providing does the same work, while as long as and on condition that cover the same ground. Its counterpart is unless, which names the condition that cancels rather than permits. The form comes from the verb's past participle, echoing provide in its sense "to stipulate."

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