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prudence

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary

See also:Prudence

English

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WOTD – 16 April 2025

Etymology

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FromMiddle Englishprudence(“discretion; foresight; knowledge; intelligence, wisdom; act of good judgment; wisdom to see what is virtuous”),^[1] fromAnglo-Normanprudence,Middle Frenchprudence, andOld Frenchprudence(“common sense; wisdom”) (modernFrenchprudence), and from theiretymonLatinprūdentia(“common sense; discretion, prudence; foresight; knowledge; providence; skilfulness; wisdom”), fromprūdent- (thestem ofprūdēns(“knowledgeable, skilful; wise, prudent”)) +-ia(suffix forming first-declension feminine abstract nouns).^[2]Prūdēns is acontraction ofprōvidēns(“caring for; foreseeing; providing”) (whenceprōvidentia(“foreknowledge, foresight; forethought, precaution, providence”)), thepresent active participle ofprōvideō(“to care for, look after; to foresee; to provide, see to”), fromprō-(prefix meaning ‘forward; prior’) +videō(“to perceive, see; to comprehend, understand; to look out for, care for”) (ultimately fromProto-Indo-European*weyd-(“to see; to know”)).Doublet ofprovide andpurvey.

Pronunciation

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(Received Pronunciation)IPA^(key): /ˈpɹuːd(ə)n(t)s/
Audio(Southern England): (file)
(General American)IPA^(key): /ˈpɹud(ə)n(t)s/
Audio(General American): (file)
Hyphenation:pru‧dence

Noun

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prudence (countable anduncountable,pluralprudences)

(uncountable) Thequality orstate of beingprudent:circumspection andgoodjudgment inknowing how best toact;(countable, archaic) aninstance of this.
Synonyms:(obsolete)cautel,discretion,farsightedness,foresightedness,judiciousness,(archaic)providence,(rare)prudentness,prudency
Antonyms:imprudence,rashness,recklessness,(obsolete)unprudence
- 1666 October 30 (date written; Gregorian calendar),Edward Waterhous[e], “To His Noble Friend and Kinsman, Sr.Edwarde Turno[u]r, Knight; Speaker of the Honorable House of Commons in this Present Parliament”, inA Short Narrative of the Late DreadfulFire in London: […], London: […] W. G. for Rich[ard] Thrale […], and James Thrale […], published1667,→OCLC,page36:
  [T]here are ſo many concurrencies vvhich have their attending cheques; vvhich poſſible are to be, but actually, vvere not improved in remedy that the prevalence of the Fire againſt, and in deſpight of thoſe vvontedprudences, and uſual reſiſtances, and the Latitude of effects, ſeconding ſuch a neglect of impending means, vvhere ſo vvell underſtood, and ſo dextrouſly at other times practiſed;[…]
- a.1677 (date written),Matthew Hale, “Touching the Excellency of the Humane Nature in General”, inThe Primitive Origination of Mankind, Considered and Examined According to the Light of Nature, London: […] William Godbid, for William Shrowsbery, […], published1677,→OCLC, section I,page57:
  Concerning intellectual Habits or the genuine effects of theſe acts in the underſtanding Faculty, and they are divers and diverſly expreſſed by thoſe that have treated thereof.[…]Prudence, vvhich is principally in reference to actions to be done, the due means, order, ſeaſon, method of doing or not doing.
- 1777 May 8 (first performance; rewrittena.1817),Richard Brinsley Sheridan, “The School for Scandal: A Comedy”, inThomas Moore, editor,The Works of the Late Right Honourable Richard Brinsley Sheridan. […], volume II, London:John Murray, […];James Ridgway, and Thomas Wilkie, published1821,→OCLC, Act IV, scene iii,page104:
  Prudence, like experience, must be paid for.
- 1794 May 8,Ann Radcliffe, chapter IX, inThe Mysteries of Udolpho, a Romance; […], volume III, London: […] G. G. and J. Robinson, […],→OCLC,pages277–278:
  [U]nder pretence of carrying in a pitcher of vvater, he entered the priſon, though, hisprudence having prevented him from telling the ſentinel the real motive of his viſit, he vvas obliged to make his conference vvith the priſoner a very ſhort one.
- 1796, [Frances Burney], “A Family Breakfast”, inCamilla: Or, A Picture of Youth. […], volume I, London: […] T[homas] Payne, […]; andT[homas] Cadell Jun. and W[illiam] Davies (successors to Mr.[Thomas] Cadell) […],→OCLC, book II,pages187–188:
  Novv as I don't much chuſe to have my girls go to theſe ſort of places often, vvhich is aprudence that I dare ſay you approve as much as myſelf, I vvould vviſh to have the moſt made of them at once;[…]
- 1841 February–November,Charles Dickens, “Barnaby Rudge. Chapter 41.”, inMaster Humphrey’s Clock, volume III, London:Chapman & Hall, […],→OCLC,page174:
  Mrs. Varden approved of this meek and forgiving spirit in high terms, and incidentally declared as a closing article of agreement, that Dolly should accompany her to the Clerkenwell branch of the association, that very night. This was an extraordinary instance of her greatprudence and policy; having had this end in view from the first, and entertaining a secret misgiving that the locksmith (who was bold when Dolly was in question) would object, she had backed Miss Miggs up to this point, in order that she might have him at a disadvantage.
- 1845,William Whewell, “Virtues and Vices”, inThe Elements of Morality, including Polity […], volume I, London:John W[illiam] Parker, […],→OCLC, book III (Morality. Of Virtues and Duties.), article 258,page157:
  A man is prudent, who acts so as to promote his own Interest, if his Interest be assumed to be the proper Object of action: but if we conceive Happiness to be a higher object than Interest, he is prudent, if he disregard mere Interest, and attend only to his Happiness.Prudence supposes the value of the end to be assumed, and refers only to the adaptation of the means. It is the selection of right means for given ends.
- 1861, [Margaret Oliphant], “The Doctor’s Family. Chapter VII.”, inThe Rector: And The Doctor’s Family […] (Chronicles of Carlingford), Edinburgh; London:William Blackwood and Sons, published1863,→OCLC,page138:
  "You mistake," cried the doctor, startled out of all hisprudences; "it ought to be my business quite as much as it is yours."
- 1904 November 10,Henry James, chapter XXXVIII, inThe Golden Bowl, volume I, New York, N.Y.:Charles Scribner’s Sons,→OCLC, 1st book (The Prince), 3rd part,pages289–290:
  She heard her ask, irritated and sombre, what tone, in God's name—since her bravery didn't suit him—shewas then to adopt; and, by way of a fantastic flight of divination, she heard Amerigo reply, in a voice of which every fine note, familiar and admirable, came home to her, that one must really manage suchprudences a little for one's self.
- 1960 August, R. K. Evans, “Railway Modernisation in Spain”, inTrains Illustrated, London:Ian Allan Publishing,→ISSN,→OCLC, page494:
  With 3,600 h.p. underfoot, acceleration was reasonably brisk, but the flickering wheel-slip indicator light showed theprudence of not putting full power through the traction motors while there were traces of early-morning dampness on the rails.
(uncountable, specifically)Synonym offrugality(“the quality ofavoiding unnecessary expenditure;economy,parsimony,thrift,thriftiness”).
(uncountable, obsolete)
1. Synonym ofprovidence(“preparation for thefuture;foresight”).
  - 1686 (indicated as168⁵⁄₆),R[obert] B[oyle], “Sect[ion] VI”, inA Free Enquiry into the Vulgarly Receiv’d Notion of Nature; […], London: […] H. Clark, for John Taylor […],→OCLC,page239:
    For 'tis my ſetled Opinion, that DivinePrudence is often, at leaſt, converſant in a peculiar manner about the Actions of Men, and the things that happen to Them, or have a neceſſary Connexion vvith the One, or the Other, or Both.
2. Synonym ofwisdom(“anelement ofpersonal character thatenables one todistinguish thewise from theunwise; wiseadvice”).
  Synonyms:sagacity;see alsoThesaurus:wisdom
  - 1610,The Second Tome of the Holie Bible, […] (Douay–Rheims Bible),Doway: Laurence Kellam, […],→OCLC,Prouerbes 4:1,page276:
    Children here ye the fathers diſcipline, and attend that you may knovveprudence.
  - 1659–1660,Thomas Stanley, “[Pythagoras.] Chap[ter] V. How He Went to Babylon.”, inThe History of Philosophy, the Third and Last Volume, […], volume III, London: […] Humphrey Moseley, andThomas Dring, […],→OCLC, 1st part (Containing the Italick Sects),page 7:
    [H]e[Pythagoras] vvent fromÆgypt to the Perſians,(not to Perſia, as ſome conceive) and reſigned himſelf to the moſt exactprudence of the Magi, to be formed.