Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)
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First published 1968 (SND Vol. VII).
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.
PROVISOR, n. Sc. hist. usage: a steward or purveyor of provisions, gen. to an institution, as a monastery, a college, etc. (Sc. 1740 J. Grierson St Andrews (1838) 180). The usage has been revived in Aberdeen University since 1938 as the title of the steward of the Students' Union.Sc. 1795 Stat. Acc.1 XXI. App. 58:
The provisor, or oeconomus, is appointed to be elected by the Principal, sub-principal and regents: his business is to find provisions for the several regents, students, and others, who were bound to reside within the College [King's College, Aberdeen].
