Voyant

Part of speech: noun, adjective

Definitions

1. Having the ability to perceive events beyond normal sensory contact
2. possessing a supposed gift of clairvoyance to foresee future occurrences
3. characterized by an enhanced intuition or insight into hidden aspects of life

Etymology: The word "voyant" is French, and it began as an ordinary participle. It comes from the Old French verb "voir," "to see," which descends from Latin "videre." A "voyant" was simply one who sees, and in French the word still carries that sense of having sight in both literal and figurative ways. The sense of "one who foresees the future" grew out of this plain meaning of seeing. Clairvoyance, which the French formed from "clair" (clear) and "voyance" (seeing), gave the French a way to describe psychic perception, and "voyant" took on the sense of a fortune-teller or seer. English borrowed the word for this sense, using it for a person who claims foresight. Because the word is a borrowing from French rather than an English native formation, its spelling and pronunciation still reflect French usage. The English noun and adjective share the same root meaning of "seeing," and the adjective form describes someone or something that has this gift of sight.

Synonyms: seer, clairvoyant, prophet, psychic

Antonyms: skeptic, doubter