improvidus
This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 20 October 2026 at 01:50. This address is a permanent link to this version.
Pronunciation
Forms
imprōvidus (feminine imprōvida, neuter imprōvidum); first/second-declension adjective[1] It is also spelled inprōvidus.[2][3]
Etymology
It is from Latin in- (“not”) + prōvidus (“foreseeing”).[2][1][4] prōvidus is formed on prōvideō (“to foresee”).[1]
Earliest recorded meaning
Köbler dates it from Cicero.[5] Cicero uses it of leaders and of old men who fail to look ahead.[3]
Semantic evolution
It is not looking into the future: improvident, thoughtless, unwary.[2] Livy writes of surprising unwary and careless enemies.[3] Of actions it is headlong or ill-considered: Livy has a headlong flight and a rash, ill-planned battle.[2] Lewis & Short give incautus, imprūdēns and inconsultus as synonyms.[3] In Church Latin it also means unexpected, sudden.[6]
Timeline
- 81–43 BC – Cicero of improvident leaders and old men.[3][5]
- 59 BC–17 AD – Livy of unwary enemies and of a headlong flight.[3][2][5]
Meanings
Adjective
- Not foreseeing, improvident, thoughtless, unwary.[2][3][1]
- Of actions, headlong, ill-considered.[2]
- (Ecclesiastical Latin) Unexpected, unforeseen, sudden.[6][1]
Related words
- prōvidus
- imprōvidē
References
- ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
- ^ a b c d e f g Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
- ^ a b c d e f g Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
- ^ Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
- ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
- ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson