pronoia

pronoia · noun¹

1. Ancient Greek · derived fromπρόνοιαι
2. Latin · derived frompronoeae
3. Ancient Greek · derived fromπρόνοιᾰ“foreknowledge, foresight; providence; form of land grant”
4. English todaypronoia

Borrowed from Ancient Greek πρόνοιᾰ (prónoiă, “foreknowledge, foresight; providence; form of land grant”), from πρόνοος (prónoos, “careful, prudent”) + -ῐᾰ (-ĭă, suffix forming nouns). πρόνοος is derived from προ- (pro-, prefix indicating a coming forth) + νόος (nóos, “the mind; act of the mind”). The English word is cognate with Latin pronoea (“providence”). The plural form pronoiae is probably a modification of Latin pronoeae, while pronoiai is from Ancient Greek πρόνοιαι (prónoiai).

pronoia · noun²

From pro- + (para)noia, coined by American sociologist Fred H. Goldner in a paper presented at the annual meeting of the Society for the Study of Social Problems in August 1981. A version of this paper, entitled “Pronoia”, was published in the journal Social Problems in October 1982: see the quotation.

First known use, by meaning

• from 1981 A belief (sometimes regarded as irrational) that people conspire to do one good.