prescience
noun
pre·science
ˈpre-sh(ē-)ən(t)s 
ˈprē-,
-s(ē-)ən(t)s
: foreknowledge of events:
a
: divine omniscience
b
: human anticipation of the course of events : foresight
presciently
adverb
Did you know?
If you know the origin of science you already know half the story of prescience. Science comes from the Latin verb sciō, scīre, "to know," also source of such words as conscience, conscious, and omniscience. Prescience has as its ancestor a word that attached prae-, a predecessor of pre-, to this root to make praescire, meaning "to know beforehand."
Examples of prescience in a Sentence
He predicted their response with amazing prescience.
Her prescience as an investor is impressive.
Recent Examples on the Web
What Houellebecq does get credit for is prescience.
—
Judith Shulevitz, The Atlantic, 24 Oct. 2024
Unusual prescience on her part or an authorial intrusion from the vantage of our less orderly world?
—Laura Miller, The New Yorker, 16 Sep. 2024
With panache but also prescience, the German political theorist Karl Marx wrote not its death notice but its birth announcement.
—Robert Zaretsky, Foreign Affairs, 30 Mar. 2021
In Europe, the left-leaning Cannes Film Festival awarded Coppola the Palme d’Or as if congratulating his prescience and left-wing skepticism.
—Armond White, National Review, 16 Aug. 2024
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Judith Shulevitz, The Atlantic, 24 Oct. 2024
Unusual prescience on her part or an authorial intrusion from the vantage of our less orderly world?
—Laura Miller, The New Yorker, 16 Sep. 2024
With panache but also prescience, the German political theorist Karl Marx wrote not its death notice but its birth announcement.
—Robert Zaretsky, Foreign Affairs, 30 Mar. 2021
In Europe, the left-leaning Cannes Film Festival awarded Coppola the Palme d’Or as if congratulating his prescience and left-wing skepticism.
—Armond White, National Review, 16 Aug. 2024
See all Example Sentences for prescience
Dictionary Entries Near prescience
Cite this Entry
“Prescience.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/prescience. Accessed 22 Nov. 2024.
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prescience
noun
pre·science
ˈprēsh(-ē)-ən(t)s
ˈpresh-
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