precognition

/ˌˈpriˈkɑgˌnɪʃən/

Other forms: precognitions

If you mysteriously know about something before it happens, that's precognition. A feeling that your mom is about to call just before your phone rings might be precognition — or maybe your mom just tends to call you hourly.

Belief in precognition is considered superstitious (at least by those who don't believe in it). It falls under the category of ESP or a "sixth sense," and it comes in handy as an explanation for the phenomenon of déjà vu, that feeling of having done or said something before, and of knowing what will happen next. Precognition comes from the Latin praecognoscere, "to foreknow," from prae, "before," and cognoscere, "to get to know."

Definitions of precognition

1. noun

   knowledge of an event before it occurs
   synonyms: foreknowledge

   type of:

   E.S.P., ESP, clairvoyance, extrasensory perception, second sight

   apparent power to perceive things that are not present to the senses