Where does “perspicacious” come from?
Perspicacious derives from Latin perspicacitas, from perspicax, from perspicio meaning to see through, from per- combined with Proto-Indo-European speḱ- meaning to observe or behold.
perspicacious (English): Of acute discernment; having keen insight;...
Definitions
- Of acute discernment; having keen insight;...
Ancestry of “perspicacious”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Latin | perspicācitās | sharp-sightedness, discernment, discrimination |
| 2 | Latin | perspicax | sharp-sighted, quick-sighted, perspicacious |
| 3 | Latin | -āx | ish, -y |
| 4 | Latin | -ium | Suffix used to form abstract nouns, sometimes... |
| 5 | Latin | -ius | forming adjectives from nouns; nominative neuter... |
| 6 | Proto-Italic | -jōs | Forms comparative adjectives |
| 7 | Proto-Indo-European | -yós | Creates adjectives from noun or verb stems |