prudent
pru·dent
adjective
1.
2.
showing wise self-restraint in speech and behavior especially in preserving prudent silence
- “maintained a prudent silence”
Origin
Inherited from Middle English prudent, from Old French prudent, from Latin prūdēns, contracted from prōvidēns (“foresight”) (English providence), the present participle of prōvideō (“to forsee; to provide for”). Unrelated to prude. Doublet of provident. Displaced native Old English glēaw.
Phrases
- prudent man rule
Related words
Word family
See also
WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.