prudente

Forms

prudente m or f (masculine and feminine plural prudentes, superlative prudentísimo)^[1]

Etymology

It is a learned word, borrowed from Latin prūdēns (“foreseeing, skilled, prudent”).^[2][3][4][1] The Latin adjective is a contraction of prōvidēns (“foreseeing”), the present participle of prōvideō (“to foresee”).^[5][6][7] De Vaan lists it among the derivatives of videō (“to see”), from *uid-eh₁- (“to see”).^[8]

Corominas thinks it was at first only a personal Latinism of Berceo, who uses it twice; one of the three manuscripts has prudient, a failed attempt to give it a popular sound.^[2] The word is absent from the Cid, the Apolonio, the Conde Lucanor and the Libro de Buen Amor.^[2] The same Latin word was taken as Portuguese prudente, Catalan prudent, French prudent and Italian prudente, and the English word prudent comes from French.^[9][10][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Berceo's Vida de Santo Domingo de Silos (c. 1230) is the first record, in the sense “wise, sensible”.^[2][11] The CDH also has los nobles e prudentes in the Crónica de Sahagún, which it dates c. 1255.^[12]

Semantic evolution

In the 14th century it qualifies a priest who must know Scripture and a king who is tenprado, prudente, justiçiero e fuerte, listing the cardinal virtues.^[12] Alfonso de Palencia uses it in 1490 as a familiar word, and Nebrija (c. 1495) has prudente cosa for Latin prudens.^[2][13] Autoridades defines it as one who acts with circumspection and restraint, and Domínguez (1846) notes it is also said of things, as medida prudente.^[14][15] Corominas observes that it is still not general among uneducated speakers but has gained ground in towns over the older cuerdo.^[2]

Timeline

• c. 1230 – Berceo uses it twice in the Vida de Santo Domingo.^[2][11]
• 1325 – a catechism requires that a priest be prudente.^[12]
• 1490 – Alfonso de Palencia uses it as a known word.^[2]
• c. 1495 – Nebrija's Spanish–Latin vocabulary gives it for prudens.^[13]
• 1549 – the first record from the Americas, in Santo Domingo.^[16]
• 1884 – the Academy gives the etymology “Del lat. prudens”.^[17]

Meanings

Adjective

1. prudent, cautious: having prudencia and acting with moderation and care: Sé prudente en la carretera.^[4][1]
2. Showing good sense; judicious, reasonable: una respuesta prudente, a una distancia prudente.^[18][1]

Word family

• prudentemente

Related words

• imprudente
• prudencia
• prudencial
• providencia
• Latin prūdēns
• English prudent

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h Corominas, Joan; Pascual, José A. (1980–1991), Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico, 6 vols., Madrid: Gredos, p. 4, 665
3. ^ Corominas, Joan (1973), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua castellana, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. prudente
4. ^ a b 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. prudente
5. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. s.v. prūdens
6. ^ Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press, p. s.v. prūdens
7. ^ Bénaben, Michel (2000), Dictionnaire étymologique de l'espagnol, Paris: Ellipses, p. s.v. prudente
8. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill, p. s.v. videō
9. ^ Coromines, Joan (1980–2001), Diccionari etimològic i complementari de la llengua catalana, 10 vols., Barcelona: Curial / La Caixa (online ed., Institut d'Estudis Catalans 2024), p. 6, 838
10. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert, p. s.v. prudent
11. ^ a b Diccionario del Español Medieval electrónico (DEMel), data publication 2026 (CC BY-SA), Universität Rostock, p. s.v. prudente
12. ^ a b c Real Academia Española (2013–), Corpus del Diccionario histórico de la lengua española (CDH), version 3.1, https://apps.rae.es/CNDHE, p. s.v. prudente
13. ^ a b Nebrija, Antonio de (1513), Vocabulario español-latino, Salamanca, ed. Marina Vidal Díez (2007), Biblioteca Virtual Miguel de Cervantes, p. 401
14. ^ Real Academia Española (1726–1739), Diccionario de la lengua castellana (Diccionario de Autoridades), 6 vols., Madrid: Francisco del Hierro, p. s.v. prudente
15. ^ 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, 1434
16. ^ 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. prudente
17. ^ Real Academia Española (1884), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 12th ed., Madrid: Imprenta de D. Gregorio Hernando (the first Academy edition with etymologies), p. 875
18. ^ Battaner Arias, Paz (dir.) (2017), Diccionario general de la lengua española VOX, Barcelona: Larousse Editorial, p. s.v. prudente