precognition
Americannoun
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knowledge of a future event or situation, especially through extrasensory means.
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Scots Law.
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the examination of witnesses and other parties before a trial in order to supply a legal ground for prosecution.
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the evidence established in such an examination.
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noun
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of precognition
1400–50; late Middle English < Late Latin praecognitiōn-, s. of praecognitiō; see pre-, cognition
Compare meaning
How does precognition compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:
Explanation
If you mysteriously know about something before it happens, that's precognition. A feeling that your mom is about to call just before your phone rings might be precognition — or maybe your mom just tends to call you hourly. Belief in precognition is considered superstitious (at least by those who don't believe in it). It falls under the category of ESP or a "sixth sense," and it comes in handy as an explanation for the phenomenon of déjà vu, that feeling of having done or said something before, and of knowing what will happen next. Precognition comes from the Latin praecognoscere, "to foreknow," from prae, "before," and cognoscere, "to get to know."
Vocabulary lists containing precognition
In the Know: Cogn, Conn
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The Dragonet Prophecy
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Florida's B.E.S.T. Common Prefixes: pre-
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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.
Varsha’s recall of this region is extraordinarily accurate, and Shoma is soon struck by her other uncanny faculties, such as precognition.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 11, 2026
The Clairvoyants perform mentalism, the branch of magic that encapsulates all things mind-reading, precognition and extrasensory perception.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 29, 2025
Today we may view that observation as something akin to informed precognition.
From Salon ● Feb. 18, 2025
Wallace had “a level of precognition about certain things,” he adds.
From New York Times ● Sep. 5, 2021
It had a new overclocked processor that was so fast its cycle-time bordered on precognition.
From "Ready Player One: A Novel" by Ernest Cline
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
