provon.1
/ˈprəʊvəʊ/, U.S. /ˈproʊvoʊ/ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > dancing > ball or dance > take part in ball [verb (intransitive)] > be first to dance
to begin, lead the dancec1325
to dance provoa1687
to lead off1806
a1687 Duke of Buckingham Satire Follies Age in Misc. Wks. (1704) 50 But if I laugh when the Court-Coxcombs show To see the Booby Sotus dance Provoe;..To me the name of Railer strait you give.
1737 Coll. Misc. Poems never before Publish'd 205 Then seconding my Man, I go, And 'fore the Ladies, Dance Provoe.
2. A provost or provost marshal; esp. = provost n. 5.
ΘΚΠ
society > law > law enforcement > law-enforcement or peace-officer > [noun] > one whose duty is arresting offenders
provosta1382
alguazila1530
prévôt1577
shoulder-clappera1616
provo1692
trap1705
felon-setter1864
arrester1880
1692 Siege Lymerick 6 The Prisoners were immediately put into the Provo's Custody.
1865 W. Reid in Cincinnati Daily Gaz. 13 Dec. 1/3 We've got a Provo' in our town that settles their hash mighty quick. He's a downright high-toned man, that Provo', if he is a Yankee.
1943 Gabber: Queensland Lines of Communication (Army Trade Training Depot) May 6 Those provos seek him everywhere!
1972 R. Pollard Cream Machine 9 Well, Victorian, the provos have brought in deserters from the tip of Western Australia to the bottom of your home state.
2006 Ottawa Citizen (Nexis) 7 Jan. j4 The provo—or whoever it is that reads out the names of the grads as they cross the stage.
ΘΚΠ
society > authority > punishment > imprisonment > prison > [noun] > military
provo1705
provost1728
conjee-house1835
detention barrack1906
mush1917
glasshouse1925
stockade1945
1705 London Gaz. No. 4183/4 Duncan Robinson..was..sent to the Provo's.
1746 M. Hughes Plain Narr. Late Rebellion 7 The Duke..ordered that seven Rebels should go down into the Well, take their dead Bodies out and bury them; which the Captain of the Provo saw done.
1779 New-Jersey Jrnl. (Chatham, New Jersey) 13 Apr. 3/1 The other two are safely lodged in the provo of the continental troops.
1832 W. Dunlap Hist. Amer. Theatre iv. 43 The Jail, then called the provo, where American prisoners suffered for asserting the rights of their country, scowled on the east.
Compounds
provo-marshal n. = provost marshal n.
ΚΠ
1863 Daily Zanesville (Ohio) Courier 5 Aug. 2/3 John A. Sinnet. Capt. and Provo Marshal 13th Dist. Ohio.
1919 G. B. Shaw Peace Conf. Hints vii. 102 The estimate of military crime which any statistician can give..without consulting a provo-marshal.
1993 Daily Mail (Nexis) 16 Feb. 19 The panel heard that Harvey told a Provo Marshal on Ark Royal that he married Mrs Rice.
Derivatives
ΚΠ
1839 A. Somerville Hist. Brit. Legion iii. 69 He [sc. an officer] was a decided enemy to provo'ing.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2007; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
provon.2
/ˈprəʊvəʊ/, U.S. /ˈproʊvoʊ/ Now historical.
A member or supporter of Provo, a movement formed in 1965 by young Dutch anarchists whose aim was to provoke the authorities; (in form Provo) this group or movement.
ΘΚΠ
society > authority > rule or government > politics > politics of other European countries > [noun] > partisans in Dutch politics > associations > members of
kabouter1961
provo1966
1966 Times 20 Jan. 15/1 (advt.) This week there are long articles on pop art,..and provos in Holland.
1966 Times 15 June 1/5 Young men and women calling themselves ‘provos’, from the French provocateur, who reject any authority or discipline, have gathered in certain parts of the city [sc. Amsterdam] to provoke police intervention.
1970 New Yorker 8 Aug. 50/3 One of the most interesting aspects of Provo, the Dutch movement that was among the first and brightest of the radical movements of the last decade, was that it blossomed forth with a number of responsible civic ideas.
1976 J. van de Wetering Corpse on Dike v. 58 You look funny..but you don't look like a hippie or a provo or a bird-of-protest.
1992 S. Plant Most Radical Gesture iii. 91 The Provos won 13,000 votes and one seat in the municipal elections in Amsterdam.
2003 R. Dalton et al. Democracy Transformed? i. 8 A strikingly parallel wave of student unrest spread across Europe in the late 1960s and the early 1970s: the Provo movement in Dutch politics in the late 1960s, the Alternativ and APO movements in Germany, [etc.].
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2007; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
Provon.3adj.
/ˈprəʊvəʊ/, /ˈprɒvəʊ/, U.S. /ˈproʊvoʊ/ colloquial.
A. n.3
A member of the Provisional IRA (see Provisional I.R.A. n. at provisional adj. and n. Compounds).
ΘΚΠ
society > armed hostility > warrior > member of specific paramilitary group > [noun]
Sanfedist1842
squadrist1938
Sternist1944
werewolf1945
provisional1970
Provo1971
Razakar1971
Schutzbündler1974
paramilitary1975
Koevoet1983
society > authority > rule or government > politics > politics of other European countries > [noun] > partisans in Dutch politics > associations
Provo1971
1971 Times 12 Mar. 2/1 An..intimidation campaign against the landowners, whom the Provos, as they now like to be called, condemn as the sectarian leaders in the North.
1973 Daily Tel. 27 Jan. 1/2 IRA men who recognise courts are automatically disowned by the Provos.
1985 Mail on Sunday 3 Mar. 40/5 What's it like to be a Provo who blows up a judge, faces a lifetime in prison and loses the love of wife and children?
1991 N. Rush Mating v. 293 Harold..was both a British Empire loyalist who believed the IRA, especially the provos, should be suppressed root and branch, and a son of Eire..who also admired their..tenacity.
2006 News of World (Nexis) 23 Apr. [Gadafi] provided explosives, money and training to help the Provos attack Britain and British security personnel.
B. adj. (attributive).
Of or relating to the Provisional IRA.
ΘΚΠ
society > armed hostility > warriors collectively > paramilitary groups spec. > [adjective] > specific
nahal1963
Provo1971
1971 Times 15 Apr. 17/4 The split is between pure-nationalist (Green, Provo, Kevin Street..) and leftist.
1972 New Yorker 19 Feb. 52/2 There are still no more than a few thousand I.R.A. men, Provo or Official, in the Six Counties.
1986 R. Sproat Stunning the Punters 130 The class of Irish..who'd rather get away from the ceilidh bands and Provo raffles and auctions of autographed photos of the Price sisters.
1999 Daily Tel. 13 Apr. 2/2 We were led to believe that all Provo weapons were in hides in the Irish Republic and now we discover that the battery packs for surface-to-air missiles are floating around in Pomeroy.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2007; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.1a1687
n.21966n.3adj.1971