What does provenance mean?
Word: Provenance
Part of Speech: Noun
Meaning: Provenance means the place or person something first came from, or the record of where it has been.
How do you spell provenance?
Syllables: prov - e - nance
Tricky part: The weak vowel after the v is the trap, and pupils write i, a or o in its place.
Watch out for: provinance, provanance, provonance
Memory tip: To prove where something came from is to show its provenance, and the e of prove stays.
Provenance in a sentence
Example 1: The dealer gave us a letter setting out the provenance of the old sitar.
Example 2: Nobody could explain the provenance of the brass lamp in the attic.
Example 3: Good cheese shops will happily tell you the provenance of what they sell.
Fun Fact
Provenance came into English from French provenir, to come from. In the art world a gap in a painting's record can bring its price down sharply.
Practise the CREST Way
Spell-o-Spell
Only one word in the list is spelt correctly. Choose the meaning of that word.
1. curater 2. provenance 3. authantic 4. antiqe
a) a person in charge of a museum collection
b) genuine and not a copy
c) the documented past of a rare item or artwork
d) a very old object valued today
Show answer
c) the documented past of a rare item or artwork. Antique ends in que, authentic has an e after the h, and a curator ends in or.
Word Cookie
Find the misspelt word in the sentence:
The librarian spent the whole summer tracing the provenanse of an old handwritten atlas that had turned up in a dusty cupboard.
a) provenanse
b) handwritten
c) librarian
d) cupboard
Show answer
a) provenanse. The noun ending here has a c, as in distance.
Mingle-Mangle
Unjumble the letters in the sentence to form a meaningful word:
A small card in the glass case gives the nrcopneaev of this old bronze coin.
a) provenance
b) prominence
c) permanence
d) prevalence
Show answer
a) provenance. The letters include a v, an o and two n's, and only one choice has all of those.
Word Connection
Choose the synonym of the word provenance as used in the sentence:
The museum checked the provenance of the old map before putting it on display.
a) colour
b) value
c) origin
d) weight
Show answer
c) origin. The museum wants to know where the map came from.
Multiple Choice Questions
1. A tea company proudly states the provenance of its leaves. What does the label tell you?
a) the best time of day to drink the tea
b) the amount of sugar to add to each cup
c) the estate in Assam where they were grown
d) the size of pot to brew it in
Show answer
c) the estate in Assam where they were grown
2. Which question is really asking about provenance?
a) Who owned this vase before you bought it?
b) How should I clean this vase safely?
c) Would this vase look better on a shelf?
d) How much would this vase fetch today?
Show answer
a) Who owned this vase before you bought it?
