perspicacity | Word of the Day

May 09, 2019 perspicacity [pur-spi-kas-i-tee] noun 1. keenness of mental perception and understanding; discernment; penetration. Visual Word of the Day Watch the Visual Word of the Day word-trends Celebrating 20 Years Of Word Of The Day! word-trends What Are The Differences Between These Emoji Faces? WORD OF THE DAY perspicacity continued... QUOTES How well she deceived her father we shall have occasion to learn; but her innocent arts were of little avail before a person of the rare perspicacity of Mrs. Penniman. -- Henry James, Washington Square, 1880 ORIGIN Perspicacity ultimately comes from the Late Latin noun perspicācitās (inflectional stem perspicācitāt-) "sharp-sightedness, discernment," a derivative of the Latin adjective perspicāx (inflectional stem perspicāc-) "sharp-sighted, penetrating, acute." Perspicāx is a derivative of the verb perspicere "to inspect thoroughly, examine, look through, see through." The prefix per- here is both literal ("to see or look through") and intensive ("to examine thoroughly"). The combining form -spicere comes from specere "to see, observe, keep an eye on," a Latin derivative of the Proto-Indo-European root spek-, spok- "look at closely, examine." Greek metathesizes the root to skep- and skop- (as in the English derivatives skeptic and horoscope). The Germanic form of the root, speh-, is the source of English spy and espionage. Perspicacity entered English in the 16th century. OTHERS ARE READING 1 Celebrating 20 Years Of Word Of The Day! To celebrate this vigesimal birthday, we took a stroll through the Word of the Day archives to see what words were featured on notable dates and reflect on some of the memorable moments and trends of the last two decades. 2 Blond vs. Blonde: What's The Difference? You probably know blond as a hair color. But wait, haven't you seen the word blond spelled with an E too: blonde? Why?! 3 What's Happening With The Word "Unicorn"? What do Scotland, Silicon Valley, LGBTQ pride, and Jesus Christ all have in common? Unicorns. Yes, unicorns. 4 How Do You Use The Word "Myriad" In A Sentence? From college admissions to carbon emissions, it seems seems society these days is facing a myriad of challenges ... or is it myriad challenges? As if we don't have enough to deal with ... 5 What Are The Differences Between These Emoji Faces? For all the emotional support they give us, it's not always clear what all these emoji faces are meant to show. That's why we've rounded up some of them. You'll laugh, you'll cry … or, at least, the emoji will. © 2018 Dictionary.com, LLC. ABOUT CONTACT You are subscribed to the Word of the Day as: matzom229@gmail.com Subscriber since: September 06, 2017 Unsubscribe Dictionary.com, LLC. 555 12th Street Suite 500 Oakland CA 94607 Manage your subscription Terms & Privacy