foresight

English

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”).

Pronunciation

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈfɔɹsaɪt/
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈfɔːsaɪt/
• (rhotic, without the horse–hoarse merger) IPA^(key): /ˈfo(ː)ɹsaɪt/
• (non-rhotic, without the horse–hoarse merger) IPA^(key): /ˈfoəsaɪt/
• Homophone: Forsyte (horse–hoarse merger)

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Hyphenation: fore‧sight

Noun

foresight (countable and uncountable, plural foresights)

2. The ability, or the due use of one's ability, to foresee or prepare wisely for the future.

   Synonym: prescience (wisdom sense)

   Antonym: hindsight

   Coordinate terms: foreknowledge, clairvoyance, precognition, prescience (precognition sense), divination, prophecy, psychicness

   Near-synonym: forethought

   Having the foresight to prepare an evacuation plan may have saved their lives.

   • 1596, Edmund Spenser, “Book IV”, in The Faerie Queene. […], part II (books IV–VI), London: […] [Richard Field] for William Ponsonby, →OCLC, stanza 1, page 1:

     The rugged forhead that with graue foreſight / Welds kingdomes cauſes, & affaires of ſtate; […]

   • 1822, John Barclay, chapter I, in An Inquiry Into the Opinions, Ancient and Modern, Concerning Life and Organization‎^[1], Edinburgh; London: Bell & Bradfute; Waugh & Innes; G. & W. B. Whittaker, section I, page 2:

     In the dead state all is apparently without motion. No agent within indicates design, intelligence, or foresight: […]

   • 1960 March, N. Caplan, “The Railway Member of Parliament”, in Railway Magazine, page 208:

     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."

   • 2020 May 20, Industry Insider, “An online boost for freight”, in Rail, page 68:

     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.

4. The ability to foresee future events in a supernatural or paranormal way, such as psychically.

   Synonyms: foreknowledge, clairvoyance, precognition, prescience (precognition sense), divination, prophecy, psychicness

   Coordinate terms: forethought, wisdom, prescience (wisdom sense)

6. The front sight on a firearm (e.g., rifle, handgun).

   Antonyms: backsight, hindsight (rare)

   Holonym: iron sights

7. (surveying) A bearing taken forwards towards a new object.

Derived terms

• foresighted
• foresightful
• foresightless
• foresightly
• foresighty

Related terms

• foresee

Translations

ability to foresee or prepare wisely for the future

• Azerbaijani: bəsirət, uzaqgörənlik
• Belarusian: прадба́чанне n (pradbáčannje)
• Bulgarian: предвиждане (bg) n (predviždane), предвидливост (bg) f (predvidlivost), далнови́дност (bg) f (dalnovídnost)
• Catalan: previsió (ca) f, clarividència (ca) f, presciència f, endevinació (ca) f
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 先見之明 / 先见之明 (zh) (xiānjiànzhīmíng), 先見 / 先见 (zh) (xiānjiàn)

• Czech: prozíravost f, předvídavost f
• Danish: fremsynthed c
• Dutch: voorzichtigheid (nl) f
• Esperanto: antaŭvido
• Finnish: kaukokatseisuus (fi), harkitsevuus (fi)
• French: clairvoyance (fr) f, prévoyance (fr) f, prescience (fr) f
• Georgian: წინდახედულობა (c̣indaxeduloba), შორსმჭვრეტელობა (šorsmč̣vreṭeloba), წინასწარ განჭვრეტა (c̣inasc̣ar ganč̣vreṭa), გამჭრიახობა (gamč̣riaxoba), წინასწარგანჭვრეტა (c̣inasc̣arganč̣vreṭa)
• German: Voraussicht (de) f, Hellsichtigkeit f, Weitsicht (de) f
• Greek: πρόνοια (el) f (prónoia)

  Ancient Greek: πρόνοια f (prónoia)

• Hawaiian: wānana
• Irish: fadbhreathnaitheacht f, fadcheann m
• Italian: lungimiranza (it) f, preveggenza f, avvedimento m
• Japanese: 先見 (ja) (せんけん, senken), 予見 (ja) (よけん, yoken)
• Māori: matakite
• Plautdietsch: Väasecht f
• Polish: dalekowzroczność (pl) f, przezorność (pl) f, zapobiegliwość (pl) f
• Portuguese: presciência (pt) f
• Romanian: previziune (ro)
• Russian: предви́дение (ru) n (predvídenije), предусмотри́тельность (ru) f (predusmotrítelʹnostʹ)
• Slovak: predvídavosť, prezieravosť
• Spanish: previsión (es) f, profecía (es) f, adivinación (es), clarividencia (es) f, presciencia (es) f, desperteza f
• Swedish: framsynthet (sv) c
• Turkish: öngörü (tr)
• Ukrainian: передба́чення (uk) n (peredbáčennja), передба́чливість (uk) f (peredbáčlyvistʹ)
• Volapük: büologam (vo)

front sight on weapon

• Azerbaijani: arpacıq (az)
• Bulgarian: мушка (bg) f (muška)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 準星 / 准星 (zh) (zhǔnxīng)

• Finnish: etutähtäin
• Greek: στόχαστρο (el) n (stóchastro)
• Japanese: 照星 (ja) (しょうせい, shōsei)
• Polish: muszka (pl) f
• Russian: му́шка (ru) f (múška), визи́р (ru) m (vizír)

Anagrams

• gift horse