Pronoia: The History of a Scholarly Discussion

The Greek word pronoia means ‘care’, ‘solicitude’ and in its sublime (theological) sense ‘the divine care’ or ‘providence’. Already Ch. Ducange knew that the word had an ‘administrative’ meaning and translated it as provisiones and pensiones annuae; ¹ the much later dictionary compiled by E.A. Sophocles, however, retains only the theological sense of the pronoia — providence. ²