prescient

C2 Topic:Describing Qualities

US /ˈpɹɛʃ(i)ənt/ UK /ˈpɹɛsiənt/ See IPA manual

Freq #64895

Meanings

1

adj
perceiving the significance of events before they occur

Extraordinarily prescient memoranda on the probable course of postwar relations-R.H.Rovere.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

divinatory oracular precognitive sibylline

Word family

Related forms nescient

Common collocations

extraordinarily prescient Adverb + adjective

Etymology

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”).

*preh₂- Proto-Indo-European praesciēns Latin praesciō Latin *skey- Proto-Indo-European

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Describing Qualities Word Formation & Derivatives

External links

# prescient

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2
**Part of speech:** adj
**IPA (US):** /ˈpɹɛʃ(i)ənt/
**IPA (UK):** /ˈpɹɛsiənt/
**Frequency rank:** 64895

## Meanings
1. perceiving the significance of events before they occur

## Examples
- Extraordinarily prescient memoranda on the probable course of postwar relations-R.H.Rovere.

## Synonyms
- divinatory
- oracular
- precognitive
- sibylline

## Related Forms
- nescient

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: *preh₂-
- Root: praesciēns
- Root: praesciō
- Root: *skey-

## Etymology
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”).

## Topics
- Describing Qualities
- Word Formation & Derivatives

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