prescience

/ˈpɹɛsɪ.əns/

//ˈpɹɛsɪ.əns// noun

"prescience" is a 10-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“prescience” is uncommon English (frequency #84,629 among 4,417 “P” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#84,629
frequency rank, English
4,417
“P” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Knowledge of events before they take place.

Corpus desk

Index EN-prescience · prescience · English

prescience · rank #84,629 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #84,629
  • LEN-MEGA 10 letters
  • VOW-4 4 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 4,417
  • PHOTO-FINISH preternatural

Nearest frequency peer: preternatural (+1 rank slots)

Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Long-tail ranks near “prescience”

Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter

corpus weight

What this shows Long-tail view: where “prescience” sits against similarly uncommon English ranks.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for prescience
PropertyValue
Headwordprescience
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ˈpɹɛsɪ.əns/
Letters10
Frequency rank#84,629
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “prescience” in English

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right).presciencefalls in this rarity band:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

The axis is logarithmic, with each marked tick roughly ten times rarer than the last. Rare peers in the same band: “preternatural” (#84,630), “preferment” (#84,627), “protozoan” (#84,631). Among 4,417 “P” headwords, “prescience” is #84,629. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

prescience is uncommon English at frequency #84,629 among 4,417 “P” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed /ˈpɹɛsɪ.əns/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.

We couldn't generate a plausible misspelling set for prescience, typically a sign the spelling maps closely to how the word sounds. This entry stands alone in our confusable dataset, a sign it's visually distinctive enough not to be mixed up with another word.

Etymologically, the entry records: Inherited from Middle English prescience, from Old French prescience, from Latin praescientia. The correct English form is prescience, spelled P-R-E-S-C-I-E-N-C-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    Knowledge of events before they take place.
  2. 2
    Knowledge of events before they take place.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how prescience appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. God's certain prescience of the volitions of moral agents
  2. O thou, who thus the eye hast veil'd, The book of fate so slowly given, I thank thee, that thou hast conceal'd From man the prescience of heaven.

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English prescience, from Old French prescience, from Latin praescientia.

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

How do you spell "prescience"?
"prescience" is spelled P-R-E-S-C-I-E-N-C-E. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈpɹɛsɪ.əns/.
What does "prescience" mean?
As a noun, "prescience" means: Knowledge of events before they take place.
How do you pronounce "prescience"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "prescience" is /ˈpɹɛsɪ.əns/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "prescience"?
Inherited from Middle English prescience, from Old French prescience, from Latin praescientia. See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "prescience", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 10 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list