Added 9 October 2026
prescient
/ˈpɹɛsiənt/ adjective
In Latin: praescius Wiktionary
adjective Definition from WordNet 3.1, Princeton University. Pronunciation from Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org. More about prescient at Wordnik → Where our words come from →
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Perceiving the significance of events before they occur.
extraordinarily prescient memoranda on the probable course of postwar relations
Origin
Learned borrowing from Latin praesciēns (“foreknowing; foretelling, predicting”), present participle of) Latin praesciō (“to foreknow”), from prae- (prefix meaning ‘before; in front’) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *preh₂- (“before; in front”)) + sciō (“to know, understand; to have knowledge of”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *skey- (“to dissect; to split”)). The word is cognate with Middle French prescient (modern French prescient (“prescient”)), Italian presciente (“prescient”). By surface analysis, pre- (“earlier in time, beforehand”) + scient (“knowing, aware”).
From Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org (CC BY-SA)