imprudentia

Forms

imprūdentia f (genitive imprūdentiae); first declension^[1] The spelling inprūdentia is also found.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is from Latin imprūdēns (“unaware, unwise”) + -ia.^[2][1][4] The adjective is in- (“not”) and prūdēns (“foreseeing, wise”), which de Vaan explains as a contraction of prōvidēns (“foreseeing”), from videō (“to see”); he traces videō to Proto-Italic *wid-ē- and Proto-Indo-European *uid-eh₁- (“to see”).^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler and the TLL date it from Terence,^[6][4] who says in a prologue that if something is a fault, it is the poet's inadvertence.^[2]

Semantic evolution

It means lack of knowledge or awareness, ignorance, as in Cicero; absence of intention, with per imprudentiam “by accident”; and lack of judgement or foresight, as Caesar blames a mishap on the imprudence of the Bituriges.^[2][3] The TLL notes that the poets do not use it apart from Terence.^[4] English took imprudence from French or directly from Latin in the early 15th century.^[7]

Timeline

• 190–159 BC – Terence of a poet's inadvertence.^[2][6]
• 81–43 BC – Cicero of ignorance.^[2][6]
• c. 50 BC – Caesar of a people's thoughtlessness.^[2][6]
• early 15th century – Borrowed into English as imprudence.^[7]

Meanings

Noun

1. Lack of knowledge, ignorance.^[2][3][1]
2. Absence of intention, inadvertence;^[2][3] per imprudentiam, by accident.^[2][3]
3. Lack of foresight, imprudence, thoughtlessness.^[2][3][1]

Related words

• prūdentia
• prūdēns

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e f Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
4. ^ a b c Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
5. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
6. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
7. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com