provenance
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provenance
- /ˈpɹɒ.və.nəns/ UK
- /ˈpɹɒ.vəˌnɒns/ UK
- /ˈpɹɑ.və.nəns/ US
- /ˈpɹoʊ.və.nɑns/ US
Where it comes from
Borrowed from French provenance (“origin”), from Middle French provenant, present participle of provenir (“come forth, arise”), from Latin provenio (“to come forth”).
noun provenances
- Place or source of origin. Many supermarkets display the provenance of their food products.
- The place and time of origin of some artifact or other object. See Usage notes below. This spear is of Viking provenance.
- The history of ownership of a work of art. The picture is of royal provenance.
- The copy history of a piece of data, or the intermediate pieces of data used to compute a final data element, as in a database record or web site (data provenance).
- The execution history of computer processes which were used to compute a final piece of data (process provenance).
-
Background; history; place of origin.
Similar: ancestry
verb provenances · provenancing · provenanced
- To establish the provenance of something
Thesaurus
Closest in meaning: birthplace, cradle, originator, home, original, appropriateness, source, certificate, pedigree, precedence, origin, consignment, outset, background, descent, departure
Translations
Every language
noun place or source of origin
| Español | procedencia, proveniencia |
|---|---|
| Português | procedência, proveniência |
| Deutsch | Herkunft, Provenienz |
| Română | proveniență |
| Русский | происхожде́ние proisxoždénije |
noun in archaeology: the place and time of origin of some artifact
| Español | procedencia, proveniencia |
|---|---|
| Русский | происхожде́ние proisxoždénije |
noun in arts: the history of ownership of a work of art
| Español | procedencia, proveniencia |
|---|---|
| Français | provenance |
| Deutsch | Provenienz |
| Русский | провена́нс provenáns |
noun of a person: background, history, place of origin, ancestry
| Português | procedência, proveniência |
|---|---|
| Deutsch | Herkunft |
| Русский | род rod, происхожде́ние proisxoždénije |
Talk about this word "provenance." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/provenance. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026. provenance. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/provenance "provenance." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/provenance.Cite this
@misc{provenance_2026,
title = {provenance},
howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
year = {2026},
url = {https://micwyn.com/word/provenance},
urldate = {2026-11-06}
}
