Word of the Day Archive
Tuesday August 3, 2004
providential \prov-uh-DEN(T)-shuhl\ , adjective:
1. Of or resulting from divine direction or superintendence.
2. Occurring through or as if through divine intervention; peculiarly fortunate or appropriate.
For Boston's progressive Unitarians in this period, rejecting the Calvinism of their forebears increasingly meant opposing the old idea that suffering was inevitable, irremediable, and providential.
-- Elisabeth Gitter, The Imprisoned Guest
The laws of nature seem to have been carefully arranged so that they can be discovered by beings with our level of intelligence. That not only fits the idea of design, but it also suggests a providential purpose for humankind -- that is, to learn about our habitat and to develop science and technology.
-- Robin Collins, The Case for a Creator by Lee Strobel
In the very first sentences of Mein Kampf, Adolf was to emphasize -- what became a Nazi stock-in-trade -- how providential it was that he had been born in Braunau am Inn, on the border of the two countries he saw it as his life's task to unite.
-- Ian Kershaw, Hitler: 1889-1936 Hubris
Providential derives from Latin providentia, from providens, provident-, present participle of providere, literally, "to see ahead," from pro-, "forward" + videre, "to see."
Dictionary.com Entry and Pronunciation for providential
