foreknow means to have knowledge of beforehand. It carries an Arena rating of 1622, earned across 79 head-to-head judged battles.
Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, foreknow ranks #879 of 17,126 for Most Elegant Words, #4,497 of 17,130 for Most Beautiful Words, #5,549 of 17,124 for Most Sublime Words, #6,717 of 17,127 for Words That Escaped Their Books.
foreknow is pronounced /ˌfɔːˈnəʊ/.
Why “foreknow” is a great word
FOREKNOW — [Verb] To possess certain knowledge of an event before it occurs. From Middle English *foreknowen* (attested since Chaucer), a calque of Latin *praescio*, equivalent to the English prefix *fore-* ("before") + *know* ("to have knowledge of"). It replaced Old English *fōrwitan*, *fōrewitan* ("to foreknow"). First recorded in English 1400–50. Unlike "predict" (which projects from calculation) or "foresee" (which anticipates through imagination), to foreknow is to hold the future as a settled, incontrovertible fact. It is the oracle's silent, terrible burden, the exact weight of the guillotine's blade known to the condemned the night before, the immutable script in a divine mind—the profound weight of perceiving time not as a river of possibilities, but as a completed manuscript.
Etymology
From Middle English forknowen (since Chaucer), a calque from praescio equivalent to fore- + know. Replaced Old English fōrwitan, fōrewitan (“to foreknow”).
verb
- To have knowledge of beforehand.e.g.“God hath not reiected his people vvhich he foreknevve.” — 1582, The Nevv Testament of Iesus Christ: […] (Douay–Rheims Bible), Rheims: Iohn Fogny, →OCLC, Romanes 11:2, page 409:
Definitions & examples from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).
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