prudentia Latin · revision 30643

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=derivation|attested=81–43 BC, Cicero|origins=ine-pro *weyd-}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * Classical: [pruːˈdɛn.ti.a]^(Wiktionary)

+ * Ecclesiastical: [pruˈdɛn.t͡si.a]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''prūdentia''' ''f'' (genitive prūdentiae); first declension^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is formed [[af|la|prūdēns|-ia|t1=foreseeing, skilled]].^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)^(TLL) [[m|la|prūdēns]] is a contraction of ⟨*prōvidēns⟩, from [[m|la|prōvideō|t=to foresee]];^(de Vaan 2008)^(Wiktionary) de Vaan derives [[m|la|videō]] from [[ine-pro|*wid-éh₁-|t=to see]].^(de Vaan 2008) Cicero already connected it with foreseeing (⟨ex prōvidendō⟩).^(TLL)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Köbler first records it in Cicero.^(Köbler 2010) An unnamed early tragedian has ''perspicax prūdentia'' (keen-sighted shrewdness) in a line about Palamedes, and Cicero uses it in ''Dē inventiōne''.^(OLD 2012)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ ''Prūdentia'' is practical wisdom, good sense and sagacity, Cicero says that the wise man's foresight is why wisdom is called ''prūdentia''.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879) It is also skill or practical knowledge in a field, especially in law, and, rarely, foreknowledge (Cicero: ''futūrōrum prūdentia'', Virgil, of the seer Helenus).^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ Döderlein says the ''prūdēns'' and the ''callidus'' choose the right means, while the ''sapiēns'' chooses the right ends.^(Döderlein 1874) Church Latin glosses it “prudence, wisdom, understanding, discretion”.^(Stelten 1995)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it in ''Dē inventiōne''.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 81–43 BC – Cicero: ''futūrōrum prūdentia''.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 70–19 BC – Virgil of the foreknowledge of Helenus.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # Practical [[m|en|wisdom]], good sense, [[m|en|prudence]].^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Wiktionary)^(Stelten 1995)

+ # Knowledge, skill (in a field).^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)

+ # [[m|en|foresight|alt=Foresight]], foreknowledge.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[iūrisprūdentia]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[prūdēns]]

+ * [[prōvideō]]

+ * [[videō]]

+ * [[sapientia]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}