precognition
/ˌpɹiːkɒɡˈnɪʃn̩/
"precognition" is a 12-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“precognition” is uncommon English (frequency #82,686 among 46,516 “P” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- #82,686
- frequency rank, English
- 46,516
- “P” headwords
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Knowledge of the future; understanding of something in advance, especially as a form of supernatural or extrasensory perception.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | precognition |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˌpɹiːkɒɡˈnɪʃn̩/ |
| Letters | 12 |
| Frequency rank | #82,686 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “precognition” sits in English frequency
Rare enough to double-check
precognition is uncommon English at frequency #82,686 among 46,516 “P” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed /ˌpɹiːkɒɡˈnɪʃn̩/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.
Our edit-distance generator produced no likely misspellings for precognition, a sign its spelling follows regular English conventions. No close-neighbour confusable shows up for this headword in our dataset, since its spelling is unusual enough that it doesn't cluster with a lookalike.
Etymologically, the entry records: Borrowed from Middle French precognition or its source, Latin praecognitio, from praecognōscō (“to know beforehand”). Doublet of Germanic-based foreknowledge and Greek-based prognosis. Equivalent to pre- + cognition. The correct English form is precognition, spelled P-R-E-C-O-G-N-I-T-I-O-N.
Definition
- 1Knowledge of the future; understanding of something in advance, especially as a form of supernatural or extrasensory perception.
- 2The practice of taking a factual statement from a witness before a trial.
Etymology
Borrowed from Middle French precognition or its source, Latin praecognitio, from praecognōscō (“to know beforehand”). Doublet of Germanic-based foreknowledge and Greek-based prognosis. Equivalent to pre- + cognition.
This word in other languages
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Using “precognition”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is P-R-E-C-O-G-N-I-T-I-O-N - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˌpɹiːkɒɡˈnɪʃn̩/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
Other uncommon English words near this rank
Data Source
Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.