omniscience
AmericanEtymology
Origin of omniscience
1605–15; < Medieval Latin omniscientia, equivalent to Latin omni- omni- + scientia knowledge; see science
Explanation
Many people believe in the omniscience or all-knowing power of God. Omniscience comes from the Latin omnis meaning "all" and scientia meaning "knowledge." Omniscience is a state of possessing all the knowledge there is — pretty impressive. In a religious sense, people believe in a higher being that has omniscience. In literature, omniscience can refer to the perspective of a narrator who is all-knowing or has the ability to see into the minds of all his characters.
Vocabulary lists containing omniscience
Stories of Ourselves
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Paradise
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Part 2 Literary Terms (Unit 6)
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Mr. Easterly is not a friend of rich-world technocrats or top-down dispensers of aid and omniscience who frequently fail to consult the very people—the Third World poor—for whose salvation they get paid handsomely.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 7, 2025
But at the core of wielding power, as she describes it, is a sort of omniscience.
From Slate ● Aug. 19, 2024
His sense of omniscience is compensatory and more disturbing than ever.
From Salon ● Sep. 21, 2023
Perhaps that magical yet iffy omniscience — Sassy calls herself a griot, or traditional keeper of stories — would have felt less jarring in a more abstract production.
From New York Times ● Jun. 7, 2023
I feel myself shift, already losing bits of my prenatal omniscience, tumbling toward the blank slate of person- hood.
From "Middlesex: A Novel" by Jeffrey Eugenides
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
