A British slang term or a female given name; can mean a prim or proper person (archaic usage).
Possibly from 'prude' or shortened from 'Prudence'; the exact origin is unclear. It appears as a name in Restoration-era literature and British usage.
Prue is most famous today as the name of the Charmed sister and as the British judge on Great British Baking Show—but historically it was British slang for a primly proper woman, showing how names acquire completely different meanings when they transition from insulting labels to beloved character names. The shift from 'prude' to 'Prue' shows how phonetic reduction can accidentally create new words.
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