Webster
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Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary · 1913

Prudence

Pru′dence (prṳ′dens), n. [F., fr. L. prudentia, contr. from providentia. See Prudent, and cf. Providence.] The quality or state of being prudent; wisdom in the way of caution and provision; discretion; carefulness; hence, also, economy; frugality.

Prudence is principally in reference to actions to be done, and due means, order, seasons, and method of doing or not doing. Sir M. Hale.

Prudence supposes the value of the end to be assumed, and refers only to the adaptation of the means. It is the relation of right means for given ends. Whewell.

Syn. — Wisdom; forecast; providence; considerateness; judiciousness; discretion; caution; circumspection; judgment. See Wisdom.

Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Noah Porter, editor (Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913). Public domain. Text as transcribed by MICRA, Inc., from Project Gutenberg. Changed for Deep Dive Bible: Greek, which our source spelled in Latin letters, set in Greek letters; entries of one spelling merged into one article; Greek words our source left out (shown as “?”), read from the 1898 printing, from the same plates (the Library of Congress’s copy), where the place could be found with certainty. Of the others, 1,362 (a word or a single letter each) were inferred by AI from the context by the dictionary’s own rules and are marked with a wavy underline (tap or point at one to see the note); the rest, which could not be inferred with confidence, are left as “?”.