prudent

See also: Prudent

English

Etymology

From Middle English, from Middle French prudent, from Latin prūdēns, contracted from prōvidēns (“foresight”) (English providence), the past participle of prōvideō (“I forsee”). Unrelated to prude.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈpɹuːdənt/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

Adjective

prudent (comparative more prudent, superlative most prudent)

1. Sagacious in adapting means to ends; circumspect in action, or in determining any line of conduct; careful, discreet, sensible; — opposed to rash; directed by prudence or wise forethought; evincing prudence
   • 1864, Jules Verne, chapter 30, in A Journey to the Center of the Earth‎^[1]:

     He did not hesitate what to do. It would be prudent to continue on to Omaha, for it would be dangerous to return to the train, which the Indians might still be engaged in pillaging.

   • (Can we date this quote by Milton?)

     Moses established a grave and prudent law.

2. Practically wise, judicious, shrewd

   His prudent career moves reliably brought him to the top

3. Frugal; economical; not extravagant;

   Only prudent expenditure may provide quality within a restrictive budget

Synonyms

• (sagacious in adapting means to ends): See Thesaurus:cautious
• (practically wise): See Thesaurus:wise
• (frugal): See Thesaurus:frugal

The terms below need to be checked and allocated to the definitions (senses) of the headword above. Each term should appear in the sense for which it is appropriate. Use the templates {{syn|en|...}} or {{ant|en|...}} to add them to the appropriate sense(s).

• considerate, provident

Antonyms

• imprudent

Derived terms

• prudence
• prudently

Related terms

• jurisprudence
• prudence
• prudential
• provident

Translations

sagacious in adapting means to ends

• Arabic: حَرِيص‎ (ḥarīṣ), حَكِيم‎ (ḥakīm)

  Egyptian Arabic: حريص‎ (ḥarīṣ)

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 謹慎 (zh), 谨慎 (zh) (jǐnshèn), 慎重 (zh) (shènzhòng)

• Dutch: voorzichtig (nl), omzichtig (nl), vooruitziend (nl), prudent
• Finnish: harkitsevainen, varovainen (fi), viisas (fi)
• French: prudent (fr)
• German: umsichtig (de), vorsichtig (de)
• Greek:

  Ancient Greek: φρόνιμος (phrónimos)

• Italian: prudente (it)
• Japanese: 慎重 (ja) (しんちょう, shinchō)

• Latin: prūdens
• Maori: matawhaiti
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: aktsom (no)

• Polish: przezorny (pl)
• Portuguese: prudente (pt)
• Russian: рассуди́тельный (ru) (rassudítelʹnyj), благоразу́мный (ru) (blagorazúmnyj), осторо́жный (ru) (ostoróžnyj)
• Scottish Gaelic: glic
• Spanish: prudente (es)
• Swedish: förtänksam (sv)
• Turkish: ihtiyatlı (tr), tedbirli (tr), sakıngan (tr), önlemli, sakıntılı (tr)

practically wise, judicious, shrewd

• Dutch: slim (nl), sluw (nl), beredeneerd (nl), doordacht (nl)
• Polish: roztropny (pl)
• Portuguese: prudente (pt)
• Russian: проница́тельный (ru) (pronicátelʹnyj)

• Scottish Gaelic: glic
• Spanish: prudente (es)
• Swedish: slug (sv)
• Turkish: ihtiyatlı (tr), tedbirli (tr)

frugal; economical; not extravagant

• Arabic: حَرِيص‎ (ḥarīṣ)
• Dutch: zuinig (nl), economisch (nl)
• Finnish: harkitsevainen
• Portuguese: prudente (pt)

• Russian: бережли́вый (ru) (berežlívyj), расчётливый (ru) (rasčótlivyj)
• Spanish: prudente (es)
• Turkish: tutumlu (tr)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout#Translations.

Translations to be checked

• French: ^{(please verify)} prudent (fr)
• Irish: ^{(please verify)} críonna

• Italian: ^{(please verify)} avveduto (it) m, ^{(please verify)} avveduta (it) f
• Spanish: ^{(please verify)} atentado (es)

Anagrams

• uptrend

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French

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin prūdēns, prūdēntem.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /pʁy.dɑ̃/

• Audio

  (file)

Adjective

prudent (feminine singular prudente, masculine plural prudents, feminine plural prudentes)

1. prudent, careful, cautious

Antonyms

• imprudent

Related terms

• prudence

Further reading

• “prudent” in le Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).

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Romanian

Etymology

Borrowed from French prudent.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /pruˈdent/

Adjective

prudent m, n (feminine singular prudentă, masculine plural prudenți, feminine and neuter plural prudente)

1. prudent, careful, cautious

Declension

declension of prudent

		singular			plural
		masculine	neuter	feminine	masculine	neuter	feminine
nominative/ accusative	indefinite	prudent		prudentă	prudenți	prudente
	definite	prudentul		prudenta	prudenții	prudentele
genitive/ dative	indefinite	prudent		prudente	prudenți	prudente
	definite	prudentului		prudentei	prudenților	prudentelor

Synonyms

• precaut, atent, îngrijit

Related terms

• prudență