Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “improvidence” come from?

Improvidence comes from Middle French improvidence, derived from Latin improvidence (in- "not" + providentia "foresight"), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European roots meaning "not to see."

improvidence (English): The quality of being improvident; want of...

Definitions

  1. The quality of being improvident; want of...

Ancestry of “improvidence”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1EnglishProvidence—
2Middle Englishprovidence—
3Middle Frenchprovidence—
4Latinprōvidentia—
5Latinprōvidēns—
6Latinprōvideō—
7Latinprō-—
8Proto-Italic*pro-—
9Proto-Indo-Europeanpro-toward, forward
10Proto-Indo-Europeanpor-to give birth; forward, through; going, passage
11Proto-Indo-Europeanper-before, in front; first; to go through
12Proto-Indo-Europeanpr̥tóspassed , crossed
Every word from Proto-Indo-European pr̥tós →