foresight
/ˈfɔɹsaɪt/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: 3.16 in modern English
16
Scrabble Score
9
Letters
2
Syllables
9
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
The ability, or the due use of one's ability, to foresee or prepare wisely for the future.
Countable; Uncountable
noun
The ability to foresee future events in a supernatural or paranormal way, such as psychically.
Countable; Uncountable
Example Sentences
- "Near-synonym: forethought"
- "Having the foresight to prepare an evacuation plan may have saved their lives."
- "The rugged forhead that with graue foreſight / Welds kingdomes cauſes, & affaires of ſtate; […]"
- "In the dead state all is apparently without motion. No agent within indicates design, intelligence, or foresight: […]"
- "The "D.N.B." wrote of one Railway Member that "he made himself personally acquainted with the working of the new systems of railroads, and with more foresight than his neighbours, he welcomed railways on his estate when other landowners were ordering their gamekeepers to warn off the surveyors or to put an end to their operations by force.""
- "The specifiers of the Freightliner network had the foresight to base the rail journey on carrying ISO containers which are 8ft wide and originally 8ft tall (although now increased to a height of 9ft 6ins), with a variety of lengths."
Etymology
From Middle English forsight, forsyght, forsichte (since 14th c.), a calque of Latin providentia. By surface analysis, fore- + sight. Compare Scots foresicht, Saterland Frisian Foarsicht, archaic Dutch voorzicht (now voorzichtigheid), German Vorsicht (all “caution, foresight”).
Origin
Word Breakdown
- Root: forsight, providentia
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ˈfɔɹsaɪt/
- British English: /ˈfɔːsaɪt/