prudence
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prudence¹
- /ˈpɹuːd(ə)n(t)s/ UK
- /ˈpɹud(ə)n(t)s/ US
Where it comes from
From Middle English prudence (“discretion; foresight; knowledge; intelligence, wisdom; act of good judgment; wisdom to see what is virtuous”), from Anglo-Norman prudence, Middle French prudence, and Old French prudence (“common sense; wisdom”) (modern French prudence), and from their etymon Latin prūdentia (“common sense; discretion, prudence; foresight; knowledge; providence; skilfulness; wisdom”), from prūdent- (the stem of prūdēns (“knowledgeable, skilful; wise, prudent”)) + -ia (suffix forming first-declension feminine abstract nouns). Prūdēns is a contraction of prōvidēns (“caring for; foreseeing; providing”) (whence prōvidentia (“foreknowledge, foresight; forethought, precaution, providence”)), the present active participle of prōvideō (“to care for, look after; to foresee; to provide, see to”), from prō- (prefix meaning ‘forward; prior’) + videō (“to perceive, see; to comprehend, understand; to look out for, care for”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *weyd- (“to see; to know”)). Doublet of provide and purvey.
noun prudences
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The quality or state of being prudent: circumspection and good judgment in knowing how best to act; (countable, archaic) an instance of this.
[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 vvonted prudences, and uſual reſiſtances, and the Latitude of effects, ſeconding ſuch a negle
Similar: cautel, discretion, farsightedness, foresightedness, judiciousness, providence, prudentness, prudency · Opposite: imprudence, rashness, recklessness, unprudence
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Synonym of frugality (“the quality of avoiding unnecessary expenditure; economy, parsimony, thrift, thriftiness”).
Similar: frugality
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Synonym of providence (“preparation for the future; foresight”).
For 'tis my ſetled Opinion, that Divine Prudence 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.
Similar: providence
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Synonym of wisdom (“an element of personal character that enables one to distinguish the wise from the unwise; wise advice”).
Children here ye the fathers diſcipline, and attend that you may knovve prudence.
Similar: sagacity, acuity, astuteness, clairvoyance, discernment, discrimination, gumption, insight, nous, penetration, perspicacity, prudence
Prudence²
proper noun
- A female given name from English, one of the Puritan virtue names. Elisha Brabin, 36, and her children, Leo, 16, Ellis, 8, and Prudence, 7, died after a blaze "spread rapidly" inside a house on Stone Square in Bootle, Merseyside, in the early hours of Tuesday.
Thesaurus
Closest in meaning: circumspection, discretion, discreetness, prudential, prudent, sanity, deliberation, propriety, precaution, caution, precautionary, careful, cautious, wisdom, cautiousness, vigilance
Translations
Every language
noun quality or state of being prudent
| Español | prudencia, lastre |
|---|---|
| 日本語 | 分別 funbetsu, 自重 jichō, 慮 ryo, 才略 sairyaku, 慎重 shinchō, 思慮 shiryo |
| 中文 | 謹慎 /谨慎 jǐnshèn, 審慎 /审慎 shěnshèn, 殷憂 yīnyōu |
| Português | prudência, precaução, tenência, tento, tino |
| Français | prudence, précaution, sagesse |
| Deutsch | Besonnenheit, Grütze, Klugheit, Umsicht |
| Italiano | prudenza, previdenza, avvedutezza, cautela, oculatezza, precauzione |
| Ελληνικά | γνώση gnósi |
| Română | prudență |
| Русский | благоразумность blagorazumnostʹ, дальновидность dalʹnovidnostʹ, осмотрительность osmotritelʹnostʹ, осторо́жность ostoróžnostʹ, предусмотри́тельность predusmotrítelʹnostʹ, расчётливость rasčótlivostʹ |
| العربية | عَقْل ʕaql, حَنْك ḥank, حَصَافَة ḥaṣāfa, حَيْطَة f/حِيطَة ḥayṭa, حِكْمَة ḥikma, حِلْم ḥilm |
name female given name
| Français | Prudence |
|---|
Talk about this word "prudence." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/prudence. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026. prudence. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/prudence "prudence." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/prudence.Cite this
@misc{prudence_2026,
title = {prudence},
howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
year = {2026},
url = {https://micwyn.com/word/prudence},
urldate = {2026-11-06}
}
