clairvoyant

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The Word of the Day for November 27 is:=20

clairvoyant   \klair-VOI-unt\   adjective
          1 : having the ability to see beyond the range of ordinary per=
ception=20
    *2 : of or relating to the power or faculty of discerning objects no=
t present to the senses
=20

Example sentence:
          Minna has such an uncanny ability to predict which books will =
be bestsellers, I=E2=80=99d swear she=E2=80=99s clairvoyant.

Did you know?
          In French, "clairvoyant" literally means "clear-seeing," menta=
lly or optically. The term made a brief appearance in English in the 17t=
h century, as an adjective suggesting a keen sense of perception, but it=
 did not become firmly established in the language until the 19th centur=
y. Today we most often apply this adjective to someone who essentially h=
as ESP, an unexplainable ability to know or perceive things that others =
cannot. (We also now use "clairvoyant" as a noun for a person who has th=
is ability.) But although =E2=80=9Cclairvoyant" is nearly always used in=
 the ESP sense these days, the allusion to special powers frequently isn=
=E2=80=99t dead serious. ("Are you clairvoyant? How did you know I was g=
oing to wear my flamingo shirt?")





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