precognition

precognition
—precognitive /pree kog"ni tiv/, adj.
/pree'kog nish"euhn/, n.
1. knowledge of a future event or situation, esp. through extrasensory means.
2. Scot. Law.
a. the examination of witnesses and other parties before a trial in order to supply a legal ground for prosecution.
b. the evidence established in such an examination.
[1400-50; late ME < LL praecognition-, s. of praecognitio; see PRE-, COGNITION]

* * *

      supernormal knowledge of future events, with emphasis not upon mentally causing events to occur but upon predicting those the occurrence of which the subject claims has already been determined. Like telepathy and clairvoyance, precognition is said to operate without recourse to the normal senses and thus to be a form of extrasensory perception (ESP).

      There is a long tradition of anecdotal evidence for foreseeing the future in dreams and by various devices such as observing the flight of birds or examining the entrails of sacrificial animals. Precognition has been tested with subjects required to predict the future order of cards in a deck about to be shuffled or to foretell results of dice throws, but the statistical support for it has generally been less convincing than that from experiments in telepathy and clairvoyance.

* * *


Universalium. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Нужно решить контрольную?

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Precognition — Précognition La précognition désigne la connaissance d informations concernant des évènements et des situations futurs selon des modalités inexpliquées scientifiquement à l heure actuelle. La précognition fait partie des perceptions extra… …   Wikipédia en Français

  • précognition — [ prekɔgnisjɔ̃ ] n. f. • mil. XXe; de pré et cognition ♦ Didact. Phénomène parapsychologique qui consisterait à connaître ce qui va arriver. ⇒ prémonition, prescience. ● précognition nom féminin (du latin cognito, onis, action d apprendre à… …   Encyclopédie Universelle

  • precognition — noun clairvoyance, foreboding, foreknowledge, foresight, forethought, perception, prenotion, presage, prescience, presentiment Burton s Legal Thesaurus. William C. Burton. 2006 precognition …   Law dictionary

  • Precognition — Pre cog*ni tion, n. [L. praecognitio, fr. praecognoscere to foreknow. See {Pre }, and {Cognition}.] 1. Previous cognition. Fotherby. [1913 Webster] 2. (Scots Law) A preliminary examination of a criminal case with reference to a prosecution.… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • precognition — (n.) foreknowledge, mid 15c., from L.L. praecognitio, from L. praecognitus, pp. of praecognoscere to foreknow, from prae before (see PRE (Cf. pre )) + cognoscere to know (see COGNIZANCE (Cf. cognizance)) …   Etymology dictionary

  • precognition — [n] clairvoyance acumen, discernment, ESP, extra sensory perception, feeling, foreknowledge, foresight, fortunetelling, insight, intuition, omen, penetration, perception, prediction, premonition, prophecy, psyche, second sight, sixth sense*,… …   New thesaurus

  • precognition — ► NOUN ▪ foreknowledge of an event, especially through supposed paranormal means. DERIVATIVES precognitive adjective …   English terms dictionary

  • precognition — [prē΄käg nish′ən] n. [LL praecognitio < L praecognitus, pp. of praecognoscere, to foreknow < prae , PRE + cognoscere, to know: see COGNITION] Parapsychology the perception of an event, condition, etc. before it occurs, esp. by extrasensory… …   English World dictionary

  • Precognition — Premonition redirects here. For other meanings, see Premonition (disambiguation). Part of a series of articles on the paranormal Main articles Afterlife · Astral projection · Aura · Clairvoyance  …   Wikipedia

  • Précognition — La précognition désigne la connaissance d informations concernant des événements et des situations futures selon des modalités inexpliquées scientifiquement à l heure actuelle. La précognition fait partie des perceptions extra sensorielles. Son… …   Wikipédia en Français

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
… Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”