providus

Forms

prōvidus (feminine prōvida, neuter prōvidum, adverb prōvidē); first/second-declension adjective^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin prōvideō (“to foresee, provide”) + -us.^[2][3] prōvideō is from prō- and videō (“to see”), which de Vaan traces to Proto-Italic *wid-ē- (“to see”) and Proto-Indo-European *wid-eh₁- (“to see”).^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler dates it from Cicero, who writes of a mind that foresees the future.^[5][6]

Semantic evolution

It is foreseeing, prophetic: Livy has an expectation that foresaw the future, Ovid an augur who foresees the truth.^[6][2] More often it is provident, exercising forethought: Cicero says that the hearers' ears guide the prudent and provident orator.^[2] Of actions it means marked by foresight, as Ovid's provident care of a leader.^[2] The TLL finds no comparative or superlative; forms of prōvidēns serve instead.^[3] Church Latin glosses it provident, cautious, prudent.^[7]

Timeline

• 81–43 BC – Cicero of a foreseeing mind and of a provident orator.^[2][6][5]
• 59 BC–17 AD – Livy of foresight.^[6][5]
• 43 BC–18 AD – Ovid of a prophetic mind.^[2][5]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Having foreknowledge, prophetic.^[2][6][1]
2. Exercising foresight, provident, prudent, cautious; of actions, marked by forethought.^[2][7][1]

Related words

• prōvideō
• prōvidentia
• imprōvidus

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
4. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
5. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
6. ^ a b c d e Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson