providentia

Latin

Etymology

From prōvidēns (“taking care, giving attention to; foreseeing”) +‎ -ia. Compare prūdentia. Possibly coined by Cicero as a calque of Ancient Greek πρόνοια (prónoia).

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): /proː.u̯iˈden.ti.a/, [proːu̯ɪˈd̪ɛn̪t̪iä]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /pro.viˈden.t͡si.a/, [proviˈd̪ɛnt̪͡s̪iä]

Noun

prōvidentia f (genitive prōvidentiae); first declension

1. The ability to see something in advance; foresight, foreknowledge.
2. Precaution, providence, forethought.

Declension

First-declension noun.

	singular	plural
nominative	prōvidentia	prōvidentiae
genitive	prōvidentiae	prōvidentiārum
dative	prōvidentiae	prōvidentiīs
accusative	prōvidentiam	prōvidentiās
ablative	prōvidentiā	prōvidentiīs
vocative	prōvidentia	prōvidentiae

Synonyms

• (foreknowledge): praescientia
• (providence): pronoea

Related terms

• prōvidē
• prōvidēns
• prōvidenter
• prōvideō
• prōvidus
• prōvīsiō
• prōvīsō
• prōvīsor
• prōvīsus

Descendants

• Middle French: pourvéance
  • French: pourvoyance, pourvéance (dialectal, Burgundy)
• → English: providence
• → French: providence
• → Italian: provvidenza
• → Portuguese: providência
• → Romanian: providență
• → Spanish: providencia
• → Old Irish: remcaisiu (calque)

References

• “providentia”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “providentia”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• "providentia", in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)
• providentia in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.