Provien.adj.
/ˈprɒvi/, /ˈprəʊvi/, U.S. /ˈprɑvi/, /ˈproʊvi/, Irish English /ˈproʊvi/ British and Irish English colloquial.
A. n.
A member of the Provisional I.R.A.; = Provo n.3
ΘΚΠ
society > authority > rule or government > politics > Irish politics > [noun] > societies or associations > members of
hougher1712
white boys1762
Steel boy1772
defender1788
United Irishman1791
Orangeman1796
marksman1800
Thresher1806
marchman1814
Orangist1822
Rockite1824
Brunswicker1828
Terry Alt1831
whitefoot1831
Repeal Warden1841
Young Irelander1844
Fenian1864
Land-leaguer1878
invincible1883
leaguer1892
Provie1972
1972 Guardian 8 May 1/2 The ‘Provvies’ (Provisional IRA).
1994 D. Healy Goat's Song (1995) 295 These UVF blokes here don't have sweet fuck all... The Provies, they're something else.
2004 Irish News (Nexis) 6 Jan. 7 A top Provie said this year: ‘If we don't get our way through politics, we will go back to what we do best’.
B. adj.
Of, belonging to, or relating to the Provisional I.R.A.; = Provo adj.
ΘΚΠ
society > authority > rule or government > politics > Irish politics > [adjective] > specific association
Orange1795
green1823
Provie1975
1975 G. Seymour Harry's Game iv. 55 Those Provie rats who could murder a man in front of his bairns.
1989 C. Reid Belle of Belfast City 72 Where else in Northern Ireland can a Provie wife and a U.D.A. wife take a long look at each other and realise that they're both on board the same sinking ship.
2002 Mirror (Nexis) 12 Aug. 2 They want some kind of Provie paradise where you're either with them or you're against them.
This is a new entry (OED Third Edition, September 2007; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
<
n.adj.1972