prescience (2009-08-16)

Part of Speech: noun

Pronunciation: [pres̸h′əns, -ē əns; prē′s̸həns, -s̸hē əns]

Definition: Apparent knowledge of things before they happen or come into being; foreknowledge.

Usage: Few of them have been fulfilled in any sense, and those required no divine prescience to foresee the result.

Suggested Usage: (1) Brown had the prescience to realize that the public places greater trust in bankers to look after their money, than politicians. (2) With great prescience Linde renamed the cellars the Phoenix Distillery, and from the ashes of one industry another emerged.

Etymology: Old French from Low Latin(Ec) praescientia from Latin praescire, to know beforehand: see pre- & science.