supply
Definitions
General Science
- noun the act or process of providing something that is needed
Aviation
- noun the amount of something available for use
Commerce
- noun stock of something which is needed
Computing
- noun the process of providing goods, products or services
- verb to provide something which is needed and for which someone will pay
Economics
- noun the quantity of a good or service which is needed and is available for sale
- verb to provide a purchaser with a good or service
Electronics
- To make something available for use, to equip, or to provide sufficiently for. Also, that which is supplied, or is available for supplying. Also, such an act of supplying.
- A source of power or electricity. For example, a power line or battery. Also called power supply (1).
- A source of power for electronic components, circuits, devices, equipment, or systems. Such sources include batteries and power packs. Also called electronic power supply, or power supply (2).
Information & Library Science
- verb to provide, give or sell something to somebody
Law
- noun the act of selling or making available something that is wanted or needed
- verb to sell or make something available, especially something illegal such as drugs
Military
- noun a quantity of equipment, materiel, etc., which is available for use
- verb to provide a person or group with the things they need
Politics
- noun the amount of something which is available to be used
Origin & History of “supply”
Latin supplēre meant ‘fill up, complete’. It was a compound verb formed from the prefix sub- ‘under, from below’, hence ‘up’, and plēre ‘fill’ (source of English accomplish, complete, etc). The sense ‘provide’ evolved via the notion of ‘making good a deficiency, fulfilling a need’.
The original meaning is better preserved in supplement (14th c.), whose Latin ancestor supplēmentum was derived from supplēre.
The original meaning is better preserved in supplement (14th c.), whose Latin ancestor supplēmentum was derived from supplēre.
