providente

Forms

providente m or f (masculine and feminine plural providentes)^[1]

Etymology

It is a learned borrowing, borrowed from Latin prōvidēns (“foreseeing, provident”).^[2][3] Corominas lists it, with providencia and próvido, among the words of the family of ver.^[4][5]

The Latin word is the present participle of prōvideō (“to foresee, provide”), used as an adjective.^[6][7] The verb is formed of prō- (“before”) and videō (“to see”).^[1][8]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record in the CDH is in Alfonso Martínez de Toledo's Corbacho (1438, in a copy of 1466), which links it with prudente: del prudente nasçe el providente, “from the prudent man comes the provident one”.^[9] Rodrigo Sánchez de Arévalo (1454–1457) wants counsellors to be subtle and providentes.^[9]

Semantic evolution

Autoridades (1737) defined it as wary and prudent, one who has foresight, and recorded the superlative providentísimo.^[10] The Academy kept the sense “wary, prudent” through the 19th century.^[11][12] Domínguez added the sense of one who exercises providence or watchful care.^[13] The DLE now adds “diligent in providing”, the sense of próvido, and Vox labels the word formal.^[2][14] Poets of the late 16th century applied it to Jove.^[9]

Timeline

• 1438 – first record, in the Corbacho (copy of 1466).^[9]
• 1454–1457 – Sánchez de Arévalo's Suma de la política uses the plural providentes.^[9]
• 1737 – Autoridades defines it as wary and prudent.^[10]
• 1884 – the Academy gives the etymology from Latin providens.^[12]
• 1903 – Boyd-Bowman's first record from the Americas, in Mexico.^[15]

Meanings

Adjective

1. wary, prudent (prudente).^[2][16]
2. (formal) provident: careful to provide what is needed; próvido: Fue un padre providente con todos sus hijos.^[2][14][1]

Related words

• providencia
• próvido
• proveer
• ver
• Latin prōvidēns

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d Real Academia Española; Asociación de Academias de la Lengua Española (2014–), Diccionario de la lengua española, 23rd ed., online version 23.8, https://dle.rae.es, p. s.v. providente
3. ^ García de Diego, Vicente (1985), Diccionario etimológico español e hispánico, 2nd ed., Madrid: Espasa-Calpe (1st ed. 1954), p. s.v. providente
4. ^ Corominas, Joan; Pascual, José A. (1980–1991), Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico, 6 vols., Madrid: Gredos, p. 5, 713
5. ^ Corominas, Joan (1973), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua castellana, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. ver
6. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. s.v. prōuidens
7. ^ Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
8. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. s.v. prōuideō
9. ^ a b c d e Real Academia Española (2013–), Corpus del Diccionario histórico de la lengua española (CDH), version 3.1, https://apps.rae.es/CNDHE, p. s.v. providente
10. ^ a b Real Academia Española (1726–1739), Diccionario de la lengua castellana (Diccionario de Autoridades), 6 vols., Madrid: Francisco del Hierro, p. 5, 415
11. ^ Real Academia Española (1843), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 9th ed., Madrid: Imprenta de D. Francisco María Fernández, p. 595
12. ^ a b Real Academia Española (1884), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 12th ed., Madrid: Imprenta de D. Gregorio Hernando (the first Academy edition with etymologies), p. 874
13. ^ Domínguez, Ramón Joaquín (1846–1847), Diccionario nacional o gran diccionario clásico de la lengua española, 2 vols., Madrid: Establecimiento Léxico-Tipográfico de R. J. Domínguez, p. 2, 1433
14. ^ a b Battaner Arias, Paz (dir.) (2017), Diccionario general de la lengua española VOX, Barcelona: Larousse Editorial, p. s.v. providente
15. ^ Boyd-Bowman, Peter (2003), Léxico hispanoamericano 1493–1993, ed. Ray Harris-Northall and John J. Nitti, New York: Hispanic Seminary of Medieval Studies, p. s.v. providente
16. ^ Moliner, María (2007), Diccionario de uso del español, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. providente