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foresight

[fawr-sahyt, fohr-]
noun
  1. care or provision for the future; provident care; prudence.
  2. the act or power of foreseeing; prevision; prescience.
  3. an act of looking forward.
  4. knowledge or insight gained by or as by looking forward; a view of the future.
  5. Surveying.
    1. a sight or reading taken on a forward point.
    2. (in leveling) a rod reading on a point the elevation of which is to be determined.
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Origin of foresight

First recorded in 1250–1300, foresight is from the Middle English word forsight. See fore-, sight
Related formsfore·sight·ed, adjectivefore·sight·ed·ly, adverbfore·sight·ed·ness, nounfore·sight·ful, adjective

Synonyms

1. See prudence. 4. foreknowledge.
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for foresightful

Historical Examples

  • The men who did the tasks were not creatures of the day, but foresightful beyond the average of mortals.

    Domesticated Animals

    Nathaniel Southgate Shaler

British Dictionary definitions for foresightful

foresight

noun
  1. provision for or insight into future problems, needs, etc
  2. the act or ability of foreseeing
  3. the act of looking forward
  4. surveying a reading taken looking forwards to a new station, esp in levelling from a point of known elevation to a point the elevation of which is to be determinedCompare backsight
  5. the front sight on a firearm
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Derived Formsforesighted, adjectiveforesightedly, adverbforesightedness, noun
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for foresightful

foresight

n.

c.1300, from fore- + sight (n.). Cf. German Vorsicht.

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper