Standard Lemma guide
Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.
Sound
Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.
name
A female given name from English, one of the Puritan virtue names.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
noun
The quality or state of being prudent: circumspection and good judgment in knowing how best to act; (countable, archaic) an instance of this.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: uncountable
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Synonyms: cautel, discretion, farsightedness, foresightedness, judiciousness, providence, prudentness, prudency
Antonyms: imprudence, rashness, recklessness, unprudence
noun
Synonym of frugality (“the quality of avoiding unnecessary expenditure; economy, parsimony, thrift, thriftiness”).
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: specifically, uncountable
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Synonyms: frugality
Antonyms: none provided
noun
Synonym of providence (“preparation for the future; foresight”).
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: countable, obsolete, uncountable
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Synonyms: providence
Antonyms: none provided
noun
Synonym of wisdom (“an element of personal character that enables one to distinguish the wise from the unwise; wise advice”).
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: countable, obsolete, uncountable
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Synonyms: sagacity, acuity, astuteness, clairvoyance, discernment, discrimination, gumption, insight, nous, penetration, perspicacity, prudence, sagaciousness, sageliness, sageness, sapience, savvy, sharpness, sophy, understanding, wisdom, wiseness, wit
Antonyms: none provided
noun
discretion in practical affairs
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: imprudence
Broader terms: natural virtue, discretion, discernment
Narrower terms: providence, frugality, frugalness
noun
knowing how to avoid embarrassment or distress
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
Synonyms: discretion, discreetness, circumspection
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: sagacity, sagaciousness, judgment, judgement, discernment
Narrower terms: confidentiality
History
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.
Across languages
144 source translations are retained for this English entry.
