Definition

Noun: 1. The act of predicting or foreseeing future events: The cognitive process of forming a judgment about what will happen in the future, often based on reasoning, intuition, or special insight. 2. Knowledge of something before it happens; foreknowledge: The state of being aware of a future event in advance. 3. The power or ability to foresee the future: A capacity for anticipating what is to come. 4. A prophetic vision or dream: A vivid mental image or revelation of a future event, often received in a dream or trance-like state.

Usage and Examples

• General Use (Act of Predicting):

  • Her accurate prevision of the market crash saved the company from significant losses.
  • The report was based on careful analysis and prevision, not just guesswork.

• Use (Foreknowledge):

  • He claimed to have had a prevision of the accident moments before it occurred.
  • The novel's plot hinges on the protagonist's mysterious prevision of coming events.

• Use (Prophetic Vision):

  • The saint described a prevision in which she saw the city's destruction.
  • His disturbing prevision came to him in a dream.

Advanced Usage and Nuances

• In Formal or Literary Contexts: "Prevision" is a more formal or literary synonym for "foresight" or "foreknowledge." It often carries a connotation of intellectual or mystical insight.
  • The strategist's prevision was uncanny; every one of his scenarios unfolded as described.
• In Psychological or Parapsychological Contexts: The term can be used to discuss purported psychic abilities.
  • The study aimed to test the subject's claimed powers of prevision.

Variants and Related Words

• Previsionary (adjective): Of or relating to prevision; having foresight.
  • His previsionary statements were later verified by history.
• Previsional (adjective): Another adjective form meaning involving or based on prevision.
  • They made previsional arrangements based on the forecast.

Synonyms

• Foresight: The ability to predict or the action of predicting what will happen or be needed in the future.
• Foreknowledge: Awareness of something before it happens or exists.
• Prescience: The fact of knowing something in advance; foreknowledge.
• Prophecy: A prediction of what will happen in the future.
• Anticipation: The action of anticipating something; expectation or prediction.

Antonyms

• Hindsight: Understanding of a situation or event only after it has happened.
• Retrospection: The action of looking back on or reviewing past events or situations.
• Surprise: An unexpected or astonishing event, fact, or thing.

Related Phrases and Idioms

(Note: "Prevision" itself is not commonly used in standard English idioms. The concept is more frequently expressed by its synonyms.) - A glimpse/vision of the future: A phrase describing a moment of foresight or prevision. - The inventor's sketchpad offered a glimpse of the future. - To see it coming: An informal idiom meaning to have anticipated an event. - Given the economic indicators, many analysts saw it coming.

Noun

1. the act of predicting (as by reasoning about the future)
2. seeing ahead; knowing in advance; foreseeing
3. the power to foresee the future
4. a prophetic vision (as in a dream)