different between prudent vs sagacity

English

Etymology

From Middle English prudent, from Old French prudent, from Latin pr?d?ns, contracted from pr?vid?ns (“foresight”) (English providence), the past participle of pr?vide? (“I forsee”). Unrelated to prude.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?p?u?d?nt/

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.

   Synonyms: careful, considerate, discreet; see also Thesaurus:cautious

   • 1643, John Milton, Doctrine and Discipline of Divorce

     Moses established a grave and prudent law.

2. Practically wise, judicious, shrewd.

   Synonyms: see Thesaurus:wise

3. Frugal, economical.

   Synonyms: see Thesaurus:frugal

   Antonym: extravagant

Antonyms

• imprudent

Derived terms

• prudence
• prudently

Related terms

• jurisprudence
• prudence
• prudential
• provident

Translations

Anagrams

• prunted, uptrend

Catalan

Etymology

From Latin pr?d?ns.

Adjective

prudent (masculine and feminine plural prudents)

1. prudent

Derived terms

• prudentment

Related terms

• prudència

Further reading

• “prudent” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.
• “prudent” in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana.
• “prudent” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
• “prudent” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.

French

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin pr?d?ns, pr?d?ntem.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /p?y.d??/

Adjective

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

1. prudent, careful, cautious

Antonyms

• imprudent

Related terms

• prudence

Further reading

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

Romanian

Etymology

Borrowed from French prudent.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /pru?dent/

Adjective

prudent m or n (feminine singular prudent?, masculine plural pruden?i, feminine and neuter plural prudente)

1. prudent, careful, cautious

Declension

Synonyms

• precaut, atent, îngrijit

Related terms

• pruden??

English

Etymology

sagac(ious) +? -ity, from French sagacité, from Latin sag?cit?s (“sagaciousness”), from sag?x (“of quick perception, acute, sagacious”), from s?gi? (“I perceive by the senses”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /s???æs?ti/, /s???æs?ti/

Noun

sagacity (usually uncountable, plural sagacities)

1. (obsolete) Keen sense of smell.
   • 1607, Edward Topsell, The History of Four-footed Beasts, Serpents, and Insects, London: G. Sawbridge et al., 1658, p. 352,^[1]

     […] this Beast [the Ichneumon] is not only enemy to the Crocodile and Asp, but also to their Egs, which she hunteth out by the sagacity of her nose, and so destroyeth them […]

2. The quality of being sage, wise, or able to make good decisions; the quality of being perceptive, astute or insightful.
   • 1813, Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice, Volume 3, Chapter 15,^[2]

     Young ladies have great penetration in such matters as these; but I think I may defy even your sagacity, to discover the name of your admirer.

   • 1904, M. P. Shiel, The Evil That Men Do, London: Ward, Lock & Co., Chapter ,^[3]

     Immediately after the meal, when he was alone again, he set to work to examine Drayton’s papers, of which there lay quite a mass on the table near him and, leaning toward the lamp on his elbow, he weighed the meaning of each with a certain sideward sagacity of gaze, a sagacity that smiled in its self-sureness.

     Swiss Family Robinson- "....near the mouth of a creek, towards which all our geese and ducks betook themselves; and I, relying on their sagacity, followed in the same course."

   Synonyms: sagaciousness, wisdom

Related terms

• sagacious

Translations

Further reading

• sagacity in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• sagacity in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.
• sagacity at OneLook Dictionary Search