Word.ws English Dictionary

prudences

prudences is the plural of prudence.

Meaning of prudence

Noun

prudence (countable and uncountable, plural prudences)

  1. (uncountable) The quality or state of being prudent: circumspection and good judgment in knowing how best to act; (countable, archaic) an instance of this.
    • [T]here are ſo many concurrencies vvhich have their attending cheques; vvhich poſſible are to be, but actually, vvere not improved in remedy that the prevalence of the Fire againſt, and in deſpight of thoſe vvonted prudences, and uſual reſiſtances, and the Latitude of effects, ſeconding ſuch a...1666 October 30 (date written; Gregorian calendar), Edward Waterhous[e], “To His Noble Friend and Kinsman, Sr. Edwarde Turno[u]r, Knight; Speaker of the Honorable House of Commons in this Present...
  2. (specifically, uncountable) Synonym of frugality (“the quality of avoiding unnecessary expenditure; economy, parsimony, thrift, thriftiness”).
    Synonyms:
    frugality
  3. (obsolete) Synonym of providence (“preparation for the future; foresight”).
    • For 'tis my ſetled Opinion, that Divine Prudence is often, at leaſt, converſant in a peculiar manner about the Actions of Men, and the things that happen to Them, or have a neceſſary Connexion vvith the One, or the Other, or Both.1686 (indicated as 168⁵⁄₆), R[obert] B[oyle], “Sect[ion] VI”, in A Free Enquiry into the Vulgarly Receiv’d Notion of Nature; […], London: […] H. Clark, for John Taylor […], →OCLC, page 239
    Synonyms:
    providence
  4. (obsolete) Synonym of wisdom (“an element of personal character that enables one to distinguish the wise from the unwise; wise advice”).
    • Children here ye the fathers diſcipline, and attend that you may knovve prudence.1610, The Second Tome of the Holie Bible, […] (Douay–Rheims Bible), Doway: Laurence Kellam, […], →OCLC, Prouerbes 4:1, page 276

See all 5 meanings of prudence

Questions about prudences

What is prudences the plural of?
Prudences is the plural of prudence.

Words near prudences in the dictionary

  1. prudelike
  2. prudely
  3. Pruden
  4. prudence
  5. Prudence Island
  6. prudences
  7. prudencies
  8. Prudencio
  9. Prudencios
  10. prudency
  11. prudeness

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: prudences (page history and authors); prudence (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Cite this entry: “prudences.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/prudences. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.