Prudency

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. The characteristic of showing careful judgment and wise decision-making in managing affairs
2. The state of exercising caution and good sense to avoid risks or mistakes
3. The habit of acting with foresight and judiciousness to ensure sensible outcomes

Etymology: "Prudency" is a real but now rare English noun, formed in the late 1500s or early 1600s from "prudent" plus the suffix "-cy," which turns an adjective into a state or quality, as in "constancy" or "fluency." Its base, "prudent," came into English through Old French "prudent" from Latin "prudens," a contraction of "providens," meaning "foreseeing." The Latin root thus carries the idea of seeing ahead, which is the heart of the sense of caution and good judgment the word still carries. The noun shows the usual pattern of such pairs. English speakers have long preferred "prudence" for this quality, and "prudency" survives mainly as a variant spelling and an occasional literary choice. Its meaning has stayed close to the original: a practical wisdom about avoiding harm, rather than timidity.

Synonyms: caution, wisdom, discretion

Antonyms: recklessness, imprudence