prudence

See also: Prudence

English

WOTD – 16 April 2025

Etymology

From Middle English prudence (“discretion; foresight; knowledge; intelligence, wisdom; act of good judgment; wisdom to see what is virtuous”),^[1] 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).^[2] 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.

Pronunciation

(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

prudence (countable and uncountable, plural prudences)

(uncountable) The quality or state of being prudent: circumspection and good judgment in knowing how best to act; (countable, archaic) an instance 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”, in A Short Narrative of the Late Dreadful Fire in London: […], London: […] W. G. for Rich[ard] Thrale […], and James Thrale […], published 1667, →OCLC, page 36:
  [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 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”, in The Primitive Origination of Mankind, Considered and Examined According to the Light of Nature, London: […] William Godbid, for William Shrowsbery, […], published 1677, →OCLC, section I, page 57:
  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; rewritten a. 1817), Richard Brinsley Sheridan, “The School for Scandal: A Comedy”, in Thomas Moore, editor, The Works of the Late Right Honourable Richard Brinsley Sheridan. […], volume II, London: John Murray, […]; James Ridgway, and Thomas Wilkie, published 1821, →OCLC, Act IV, scene iii, page 104:
  Prudence, like experience, must be paid for.
- 1794 May 8, Ann Radcliffe, chapter IX, in The Mysteries of Udolpho, a Romance; […], volume III, London: […] G. G. and J. Robinson, […], →OCLC, pages 277–278:
  [U]nder pretence of carrying in a pitcher of vvater, he entered the priſon, though, his prudence 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”, in Camilla: Or, A Picture of Youth. […], volume I, London: […] T[homas] Payne, […]; and T[homas] Cadell Jun. and W[illiam] Davies (successors to Mr. [Thomas] Cadell) […], →OCLC, book II, pages 187–188:
  Novv as I don't much chuſe to have my girls go to theſe ſort of places often, vvhich is a prudence 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.”, in Master Humphrey’s Clock, volume III, London: Chapman & Hall, […], →OCLC, page 174:
  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 great prudence 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”, in The Elements of Morality, including Polity […], volume I, London: John W[illiam] Parker, […], →OCLC, book III (Morality. Of Virtues and Duties.), article 258, page 157:
  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.”, in The Rector: And The Doctor’s Family […] (Chronicles of Carlingford), Edinburgh; London: William Blackwood and Sons, published 1863, →OCLC, page 138:
  "You mistake," cried the doctor, startled out of all his prudences; "it ought to be my business quite as much as it is yours."
- 1904 November 10, Henry James, chapter XXXVIII, in The Golden Bowl, volume I, New York, N.Y.: Charles Scribner’s Sons, →OCLC, 1st book (The Prince), 3rd part, pages 289–290:
  She heard her ask, irritated and sombre, what tone, in God's name—since her bravery didn't suit him—she was 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 such prudences a little for one's self.
- 1960 August, R. K. Evans, “Railway Modernisation in Spain”, in Trains Illustrated, London: Ian Allan Publishing, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 494:
  With 3,600 h.p. underfoot, acceleration was reasonably brisk, but the flickering wheel-slip indicator light showed the prudence of not putting full power through the traction motors while there were traces of early-morning dampness on the rails.
(uncountable, specifically) Synonym of frugality (“the quality of avoiding unnecessary expenditure; economy, parsimony, thrift, thriftiness”)
(uncountable, obsolete)
1. Synonym of providence (“preparation for the future; foresight”)
  - 1686 (indicated as 168⁵⁄₆), R[obert] B[oyle], “Sect[ion] VI”, in A Free Enquiry into the Vulgarly Receiv’d Notion of Nature; […], London: […] H. Clark, for John Taylor […], →OCLC, page 239:
    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.
2. Synonym of wisdom (“an element of personal character that enables one to distinguish the wise from the unwise; wise advice”)
  Synonyms: sagacity; see also Thesaurus:wisdom
  - 1610, The Second Tome of the Holie Bible, […] (Douay–Rheims Bible), Doway: Lavrence Kellam, […], →OCLC, Proverbes 4:1, page 276:
    Children here ye the fathers diſcipline, and attend that you may knovve prudence.
  - 1659–1660, Thomas Stanley, “[Pythagoras.] Chap[ter] V. How He Went to Babylon.”, in The History of Philosophy, the Third and Last Volume, […], volume III, London: […] Humphrey Moseley, and Thomas Dring, […], →OCLC, 1st part (Containing the Italick Sects), page 7:
    [H]e [Pythagoras] vvent from Ægypt to the Perſians, (not to Perſia, as ſome conceive) and reſigned himſelf to the moſt exact prudence of the Magi, to be formed.