prescient

[presh-uhnt, ‑ee-uhnt, pree-shuhnt, ‑shee-uhnt]

adjective

1. having prescience, or knowledge of things or events before they exist or happen; having foresight.

   The prescient economist was one of the few to see the financial collapse coming.

Other Word Forms

• presciently adverb
• nonprescient adjective
• nonpresciently adverb
• unprescient adjective
• unpresciently adverb

Word History and Origins

Origin of prescient¹

First recorded in 1590–1600; from Old French, from Latin praesciēns (stem praescient- ), present participle of praescīre “to know beforehand,” equivalent to prae- “before” + scīre “to know”; pre- ( def. ); science ( def. )

Related Words

• farsighted