Definition

Noun: 1. Knowledge or awareness of an event before it occurs: The direct perception or foreknowledge of a future event, typically through extrasensory means or psychic ability. 2. (Law, Scottish) Preliminary examination of witnesses: In Scottish law, a formal preliminary examination of witnesses and evidence before a trial.

Usage

• General/Parapsychology: Used to describe the psychic phenomenon of knowing about something before it happens.
• Legal (Scottish): Used specifically in the context of Scottish legal procedure.

Examples

• Parapsychological context:
  • Her alleged precognition of the accident troubled her deeply.
  • The study aimed to test the existence of precognition under controlled laboratory conditions.
• Legal context:
  • The procurator fiscal took a precognition from the key witness.
  • The defense lawyer reviewed the precognitions before the trial.

Advanced Usage

• "To have a precognition of...": To experience a foreknowledge about a specific future event.
  • He claimed to have had a precognition of the market crash.
• Used in academic and parapsychological literature to discuss clairvoyance or premonition as a cognitive faculty.

Variants and Related Words

• Precognitive (adj): Relating to or involving precognition.
  • She reported a series of precognitive dreams.
• Precognize (verb, rare): To know or perceive beforehand.
  • (Rarely used) Some believe gifted individuals can precognize future events.

Synonyms

• Foreknowledge: Awareness of something before it happens or exists.
• Premonition: A strong feeling that something is about to happen, especially something unpleasant.
• Second sight: The supposed ability to perceive future events.
• Prophecy: A prediction of what will happen in the future.

Antonyms

• Hindsight: Understanding of a situation or event only after it has happened.
• Retrocognition (Parapsychology): The supposed extrasensory perception of past events.

Notes

• In everyday English, "precognition" is most commonly associated with psychic phenomena and parapsychology.
• The Scottish legal usage is a specific technical term and is not widely used outside that jurisdiction.

Noun

1. knowledge of an event before it occurs