provisional

See also: Provisional

English

Etymology

From provision +‎ -al, or else from Middle French provisionnal (modern French provisionnel). Compare Latin prōvīsiōnālis.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /pɹəˈvɪʒənəl/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

Adjective

provisional (not comparable)

1. Temporary, but with the intention of eventually becoming permanent or being replaced by a permanent equivalent.

   Marsden and Jones were named in the provisional squad for the European Championships, to be confirmed before the 30 June deadline.

   The provisional date for the wedding is April 2, but it is subject to confirmation at the church.

Synonyms

• provisionary

Derived terms

• nonprovisional
• provisional government
• provisional job
• provisional license
• provisional government
• provisionality
• provisionally
• provisionalness

Translations

temporary

• Arabic: مُؤَقَّت m (muʔaqqat), مَشْرُوط m (mašrūṭ)
• Armenian: ժամանակավոր (hy) (žamanakavor)
• Azerbaijani: müvəqqəti (az), keçici, ötəri, sürəksiz
• Bulgarian: временен (bg) (vremenen), условен (bg) (usloven)
• Catalan: provisional (ca), provisori
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 临时 (zh) (línshí)

• Czech: provizorní (cs), prozatímní (cs)
• Danish: provisorisk
• Dutch: voorlopig (nl), provisorisch (nl), provisioneel (nl), provisoir (nl)
• Esperanto: provizora (eo)
• Finnish: tilapäinen (fi), väliaikainen (fi)
• French: provisoire (fr), temporaire (fr)
• German: provisorisch (de), vorläufig (de)
• Greek: προσωρινός (el) (prosorinós)
• Hungarian: ideiglenes (hu)
• Irish: sealadach
• Italian: provvisionale (it), provvisorio (it)
• Japanese: 臨時 (ja) (rinji)
• Kumyk: заманлыкъ (zamanlıq)
• Luxembourgish: provisoresch
• Macedonian: привремен m (privremen), времен m (vremen), провизорен m (provizoren)
• Polish: prowizoryczny (pl), tymczasowy (pl), przejściowy (pl)
• Portuguese: provisório (pt)
• Romanian: provizoriu (ro)
• Russian: вре́менный (ru) (vrémennyj), предварительный (ru) (predvaritelʹnyj)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: провизоран, прѝвремен

  Latin: prȍvizōran (sh), prìvremen (sh)

• Spanish: provisional (es), provisorio (es)
• Swedish: provisorisk (sv)
• Turkish: geçici (tr)

Noun

provisional (plural provisionals)

1. (philately) A postage stamp issued locally before an official issue is released.

   Synonym: provisory

2. (dentistry) An interim denture.
   • 2015, Stuart J. Froum, Dental Implant Complications, page 518:

     If this was not possible, then alternatives including provisionalizing with a complete denture or a tooth-supported fixed provisional and a staged treatment protocol should have been considered.

Derived terms

• provisionalize

Translations

provisional postage stamp

• Danish: provisorie
• Polish: tymczasowy znaczek pocztowy m

Anagrams

• pons Varolii

Catalan

Etymology

From provisió +‎ -al.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Northern, Central) [pɾu.βi.zi.uˈnal]
• IPA^(key): (Balearic, Valencia) [pɾo.vi.zi.oˈnal]
• IPA^(key): (Northwestern) [pɾo.βi.zi.oˈnal]

• Audio (Barcelona):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -al

Adjective

provisional m or f (masculine and feminine plural provisionals)

1. provisional

   Synonym: provisori

Derived terms

• provisionalitat
• provisionalment

Further reading

• “provisional”, in Diccionari de la llengua catalana [Dictionary of the Catalan Language] (in Catalan), second edition, Institute of Catalan Studies [Catalan: Institut d'Estudis Catalans], April 2007

Spanish

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *per-der.?

Proto-Indo-European *per-der.?

Proto-Indo-European *pér

Proto-Indo-European *-o

Proto-Indo-European *pró

Proto-Indo-European *pro-

Proto-Italic *pro-

Latin prō-

Proto-Indo-European *weyd-

Proto-Indo-European *-éh₁ti

Proto-Indo-European *-yeti

Proto-Indo-European *-éh₁yeti

Proto-Indo-European *widéh₁yeti

Proto-Italic *widēō

Latin videō

Latin prōvideō

Proto-Indo-European *-tis

Proto-Indo-European *-Hō

Proto-Indo-European *-tiHō

Proto-Italic *-tiō

Latin -tiō

Latin provisiōnemder.

Spanish provisión

Proto-Indo-European *h₂el-

Proto-Indo-European *-is

Proto-Indo-European *h₂élisder.?

Proto-Italic *-ālis

Latin -ālis

Spanish -al

Spanish provisional

From provisión + -al.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /pɾobisjoˈnal/ [pɾo.β̞i.sjoˈnal]

• Audio (Colombia):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -al
• Syllabification: pro‧vi‧sio‧nal

Adjective

provisional m or f (masculine and feminine plural provisionales)

1. provisional

   Synonym: provisorio

2. makeshift

   Synonym: improvisado

Derived terms

• libertad provisional
• prisión provisional
• provisionalidad
• provisionalmente

Further reading

• “provisional”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8.1, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 15 December 2025