prudence

C2+ Topic:Mind & Cognition

US /ˈprudəns/ UK /ˈpruːdəns/ See IPA manual

noun

Meanings

1

noun
careful good judgment in managing practical affairs

Financial prudence kept the company solvent through the downturn.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 noun · careful good judgment in... caution discretion circumspection foresight wisdom care judgment forethought

Opposites

recklessness rashness imprudence carelessness folly

Word family

Related forms prudent prudential providence

Etymology

From Old French prudence, from Latin prudentia ('foresight, sagacity'), a contraction of providentia ('foresight'), from providere ('to foresee'), from pro- ('ahead') + videre ('to see').

prudentia Latin videre Latin *weyd- Proto-Indo-European

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Mind & Cognition Word Formation & Derivatives

# prudence

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2+
**Part of speech:** noun
**IPA (US):** ˈprudəns
**IPA (UK):** ˈpruːdəns

## Meanings
1. careful good judgment in managing practical affairs

## Examples
- Financial prudence kept the company solvent through the downturn.

## Synonyms
- caution
- discretion
- circumspection
- foresight
- wisdom
- care
- judgment
- forethought

## Antonyms
- recklessness
- rashness
- imprudence
- carelessness
- folly

## Related Forms
- prudent
- prudential
- providence

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: prudentia
- Root: videre
- Root: *weyd-

## Etymology
From Old French prudence, from Latin prudentia ('foresight, sagacity'), a contraction of providentia ('foresight'), from providere ('to foresee'), from pro- ('ahead') + videre ('to see').

## AI Etymology
Prudence is from Old French prudence, from Latin prudentia ('foresight, sagacity'), a contraction of providentia ('foresight'), from providere ('to foresee'), from pro- ('ahead') + videre ('to see'). Important recorded forms include prudentia (Latin), videre (Latin), and *weyd- (Proto-Indo-European). Morphologically, the word preserves a built structure whose named elements carry the historical sense into English. The modern sense remains close to that composition, with the parts narrowing into a single lexical item. In current use it covers careful good judgment in managing practical affairs. The wider family includes related words such as prudent, prudential, and providence.

## Topics
- Mind & Cognition
- Word Formation & Derivatives

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prudence

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