prescient

The story

1. Proto-Indo-European · derived from*skey-“to dissect; to split”
2. Proto-Indo-European · derived from*preh₂-“before; in front”
3. Latin · derived frompraesciō“to foreknow”
4. Latin · learned borrowing frompraesciēns“foreknowing; foretelling, predicting”
5. English todayprescient

Learned borrowing from Latin praesciēns (“foreknowing; foretelling, predicting”), present participle of) Latin praesciō (“to foreknow”), from prae- (prefix meaning ‘before; in front’) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *preh₂- (“before; in front”)) + sciō (“to know, understand; to have knowledge of”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *skey- (“to dissect; to split”)). The word is cognate with Middle French prescient (modern French prescient (“prescient”)), Italian presciente (“prescient”). By surface analysis, pre- (“earlier in time, beforehand”) + scient (“knowing, aware”).

Words from the same roots

First known use, by meaning

• from early 17th c. Exhibiting or possessing prescience: having knowledge of, or seemingly able to correctly predict, events before they take place.