prudent

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for December 29, 2007 is: prudent • \PROO-dunt\ • adjective 1 : marked by wisdom or judiciousness 2 : shrewd in the management of practical affairs 3 : cautious, discreet 4 : thrifty, frugal Examples: The lawyer offered several prudent suggestions. Did you know? "Prudent" arrived in Middle English around the 14th century and traces back, by way of Middle French, to the Latin verb "providēre," meaning "to see ahead, foresee, provide (for)." "Providēre" combines "pro-," meaning "before," and "vidēre," meaning "to see," and it may look familiar to you; it is also the source of our "provide," "provident," "provision," and "improvise." "Vidēre" also has many English offspring, including "evident," "supervise," "video," and "vision." *Indicates the sense illustrated in the example sentence. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.