produce definition

English produce definition

Etymology

From Middle English produce, from Latin prōdūcō (“to lead forth”), from prō- (“forth, forward”) + dūcō (“to lead, bring”). The noun is derived from the verb.

Pronunciation

Verb

• (Received Pronunciation) enPR: prədyo͞osʹ, IPA^(key): /pɹəˈdjuːs/, /pɹəˈd͡ʒuːs/
• (General American) enPR: prədo͞osʹ, IPA^(key): /pɹəˈdus/

• Audio (USA)

  (file)

• Audio (AUS)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -uːs
• Hyphenation: pro‧duce

Noun

• (Received Pronunciation) enPR: prŏd'yo͞os, IPA^(key): /ˈpɹɒdjuːs/, /ˈpɹɒd͡ʒuːs/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈpɹoʊ.dus/, /ˈpɹɑ.dus/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Audio (CA)

  (file)

• Hyphenation: prod‧uce

Verb

produce (third-person singular simple present produces, present participle producing, simple past and past participle produced)

1. (transitive) To bring forth, to yield, make, manufacture, or otherwise generate.
   • 1851, Thomas Babington Macaulay, The History of England from the Accession of James the Second, volume III, London: Longman, Brown, Green, and Longmans, →OCLC:

     [chapter XIII, page 264:] […] the greatest jurist that his country had produced. […] [chapter XVI, page 644:] At Rome the news from Ireland produced a sensation of a very different kind.

   • 1999, Steven O. Shattuck, Australian Ants: Their Biology and Identification‎^[1], volume 3, CSIRO Publishing, page 72:

     Many of these caterpillars have special glands that produce secretions which are very attractive to these ants.

   • 2000, Cheris Kramarae, Dale Spender, quoting Jane McGary, Environment: Australia and New Zealand‎^[2], quoted in Routledge International Encyclopedia of Women: Education: Health to Hypertension, page 567:

     For example, Mary Lou Morris, past president of the Environment Institute of Australia, has been her country′s delegate to a number of global environmental conferences and helped to produce the Australian National Heritage Charter.

   • 2006, Office of the United States Trade Representative, National Trade Estimate Report on Foreign Trade Barriers: 2006‎^[3], page 29:

     The Agreement criminalizes end-user piracy and requires Australia to authorize the seizure, forfeiture, and destruction of counterfeit and pirated goods and the equipment used to produce them.

   • 2006 November 21, Kenya National Assembly, Kenya National Assembly Official Record (Hansard): Parliamentary Debates‎^[4], page 3805:

     We discovered that they produce more than 2,000 megawatts from wind energy.

   • 2008, Primary Australian History: Book F‎^[5], R.I.C. Publications, page 43:

     He had wanted to produce a wheat that was more suited to Australian conditions and was drought- and disease-resistant.

   • 2010, Carlos Laurenço, Hermine K. Wöhri, edited by Helmut Satz, Sourav Sarkar, and Bikash Sinha, The Physics of the Quark-Gluon Plasma: Introductory Lectures‎^[6], Springer, Lecture Notes in Physics 785, Measuring Dimuons Produced in Proton-Nucleus Collisions in the NA60 Experiment at the SPS, page 280:

     Besides, some of the rejected dimuons were produced in collisions downstream of the target region (in the beam dump or in the hadron absorber, for instance).

2. (intransitive) To make or yield something.
   • 1968, United States. Congress. House. Select Committee on Small Business, Hearings, page 550:

     Now it is also my understanding, I believe I am correct in this, that either one or two other manufacturers did not produce this year, which also created a certain shortage.

3. (transitive) To make (a thing) available to a person, an authority, etc.; to provide for inspection.
   • 1810, Cobbett's complete collection of state trials and proceedings, volume 8:

     It was necessary for the prisoner to produce a witness to prove his innocency.

   • 1961 October, “Motive Power Miscellany: Western Region”, in Trains Illustrated, page 635:

     The bottom of the barrel was scraped on August 22 when Shrewsbury had to produce Taunton 2-6-0 No. 6312 to work the 8.10 p.m. from Paddington between Wolverhampton and Shrewsbury; the stranger was in trouble in the early hours of the next morning at Hollinswood, but managed to reach Shrewsbury.

   • 2006, Tom Smart, Lee Benson, In Plain Sight: The Startling Truth Behind the Elizabeth Smart Investigation‎^[7], page 262:

     LDS security produced identification information, photographs, and videotape of an anti-Mormon preacher who they said called himself Emmanuel and was often seen around Temple Square, especially at conference time.

   • 2007, Transit Cooperative Research Program, TRCP Report 86: Public Transportation Passenger Security Inspections: A Guide for Policy Decision Makers‎^[8], page 22:

     The plaintiff alleges that he was unlawfully detained at the airport by state troopers and threatened with arrest unless he produced identification and his travel documents.

4. (transitive, media) To sponsor and present (a motion picture, etc) to an audience or to the public.
   • 1982 January 30, “Imported Producers Spread Early Sound to Global Markets”, in Billboard‎^[9], page M-16:

     David Tickle flew in to Melbourne to produce the quad-platinum (in Australia) LP “True Colors” and the triple gold single “I Got You”— both of which shot the band to international prominence.

   • 2001, Donald Bogle, Toms, Coons, Mulattoes, Mammies, and Bucks: An Interpretive History of Blacks in American Films‎^[10], page 56:

     In 1940, he co-wrote the script for Broken Strings, an independently produced film in which he starred as a concert violinist.

   • 2011, Bob Sehlinger, Menasha Ridge, Len Testa, The Unofficial Guide Walt Disney World 2012‎^[11], page 570:

     This beautifully produced film was introduced in 2003.

5. (mathematics) To extend an area, or lengthen a line.

   to produce a side of a triangle

6. (obsolete) To draw out; to extend; to lengthen or prolong.
   • 1642, Tho[mas] Browne, “The First Part”, in Religio Medici. […], 4th edition, London: […] E. Cotes for Andrew Crook […], published 1656, →OCLC, page 90:

     And truely there goes a great deale of providence to produce a mans life unto threeſcore; […]

7. (music) To alter using technology, as opposed to simply performing.

   highly produced sound

Synonyms

• (To yield, make or manufacture; to generate): bring forth, come up with
• (to provide for inspection): present, offer

Antonyms

• (to make or manufacture): destroy, ruin

Derived terms

Related terms

Translations

Noun

produce (uncountable)

1. That which is produced.

   Synonyms: output, proceeds, product, yield

3. Harvested agricultural goods collectively, especially vegetables and fruit, but possibly including eggs, dairy products and meat; the saleable food products of farms.
   • 1852, F. Lancelott, Australia As It Is: Its Settlements, Farms and Gold Fields‎^[12], page 151:

     All fruits, vegetables, and dairy and poultry-yard produce are, in the Australian capitals, dear, and of very easy sale.

   • 1861, William Westgarth, Australia: Its Rise, Progress, and Present Condition‎^[13], page 54:

     Taking a retrospect, then, of fourteen years preceding 1860, and making two periods of seven years each, the value of the exports of the produce or manufactures of this country to Australia has been, for the annual average of the first seven years, 1846-52, 2½ millions sterling; while for the second period, 1856-59, the annual average has been 11 millions.

   • 1999, Bruce Brown, Malcolm McKinnon, New Zealand in World Affairs, 1972-1990‎^[14], page 291:

     While it is true that New Zealand′s economic stake in the region [of Oceania] remained relatively small when compared with the major markets for New Zealand produce in Australia, Asia, North America and Europe, it nevertheless remained the region through which trade must pass on its way to these larger markets.

   • 2008, Peter Newman, Isabella Jennings, Cities As Sustainable Ecosystems: Principles and Practices‎^[15], page 230:

     A farm supervisor is employed to coordinate the planting and harvesting of produce by volunteers.

4. Offspring.
   • 1865, The Turf and the Racehorse:

     With regard to the mare that has proved herself of the first class during her racing career, let us contrast the probable success of her produce […]

5. (Australia) Livestock and pet food supplies.

Usage notes

Frequently used in the collocation produce aisle, since c. 1960, specifically in the sense “fruits and vegetables”.^[1]

Hypernyms

• (items produced): output, products

Derived terms

Translations

References

Further reading

• “produce”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• “produce”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.
• “produce”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.

Anagrams

• crouped

Interlingua produce definition

Verb

produce

1. present of producer
2. imperative of producer

Italian produce definition

Verb

produce

1. third-person singular present indicative of produrre

Anagrams

• perduco

Latin produce definition

Verb

prōdūce

1. second-person singular present active imperative of prōdūcō

Noun

prōduce

1. ablative singular of prōdux

Romanian produce definition

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin prōdūcere, present active infinitive of prōdūcō, French produire.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [proˈdu.tʃe]

Verb

a produce (third-person singular present produce, past participle produs) 3rd conj.

1. (transitive) to produce

Conjugation

Derived terms

• producător
• producere
• produs

Related terms

• producție

Spanish produce definition

Verb

produce

1. inflection of producir:
   1. third-person singular present indicative
   2. second-person singular imperative