1. Pertaining to an ability in knowing what will happen before it actually does occur: Those who are prescient people claim to have the gifts of foresight, clairvoyance, premonition, or prophecy.

The police gave the bank a prescient warning that they had heard that a robbery was being planned by criminals.

2. Etymology: from Latin praescient-, "knowing beforehand", from the verb praescire, from prae, "before" + scire "to know".