prescientific

P3R1E1S1C3I1E1N1T1I1F4I1C3

adjective

Before the development of modern science.

Opposite
postscientific
OriginEnglish scientific ← Middle French scientifique ← Medieval Latin scientificus →
Scrabble 22
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Meanings

prescientific1

adjectiveprescientific (not comparable)
  1. not comparableBefore the development of modern science.

    It is not improbable that, in some locality where tram-roads were a novelty, their name may have been associated in folk-etymology or by pre-scientific etymologers with that of the engineer.

    1926, James A.H. Murray, A New English Dictionary on Historical Principles, volume X, part I, page 248, column 1
    1 more example

    [Martin] Heidegger's concern […] was with ontology, the nature of beings, above all humans. The central question for him was "What is being? What is it for something to be?" He tackled this question not by way of the sciences, but by way of an examination of our prescientific daily life. We are, he argued, not cut off from the world by our mental processes: we are "in the world", in direct contact with our surroundings.

    2014 April 12, Michael Inwood, “Martin Heidegger: the philosopher who fell for Hitler [print version: Hitler's philosopher]”, in The Daily Telegraph (Review), London, page R10

    Antonyms: postscientific

prescientific2

adjectiveprescientific (not comparable)
  1. not comparablerareExhibiting or relating to prescience; prescient.

Synonyms & antonyms

adjectiveBefore the development of modern science.

Opposite
postscientific
Also see
prescient

Origin

  1. Proto-Indo-European*per-
  2. Proto-Indo-European*preh₂-
  3. Proto-Indo-European*préh₂i?
  4. Proto-Italic*prai
  5. Proto-Italic*prai-
  6. Latinprae-
  7. Middle Englishpre-
  8. Englishpre-
  9. Proto-Indo-European*sek-?
  10. Proto-Indo-European*skey-
  11. Latinsciō
  12. Latinsciēns
  13. Latinscientia
  14. Proto-Indo-European*dʰeh₁-
  15. Proto-Italic*θakos
  16. Medieval Latinscientificus
  17. Middle Frenchscientifique
  18. Englishscientific
  19. Englishprescientific

From pre- + scientific.

Full word history & related roots →

Rhymes & wordplay

Anagrams

interspecific
Cite this entry
APA

prescientific. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/prescientific

MLA

“prescientific.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/prescientific. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “prescientific,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/prescientific.

Source: prescientific on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.