[f. FORE- pref. + SIGHT. Cf. OHG. forasiht, Ger. vorsicht.]
1. The action or faculty of foreseeing what must happen; prevision.
14[?]. Lydg., Secrees, 172.
| And haue ther with Consyderacyoun | |
| Be a forsyght and Cleer inspeccyoun. |
1553. T. Wilson, Rhet., 17 b. Foresight is a gatheryng by conjectures what shall happen, and an evident perceivyng of thynges to come, before thei do come.
1656. Bp. Hall, Occas. Medit. (1851), 19. Want of foresight makes thee more merry, if not more happy, here, than the foresight of better things maketh me.
1791. Burke, Th. French Affairs, Wks. VII. 83. When the measures are rash, ill chosen, or ill combined, and the effects rather of blind terrour than of enlightened foresight.
1816. Jane Austen, Emma, II. iii. 43. How much more must an imaginist, like herself, be on fire with speculation and foresight!
1856. Smyth, Catal. Roman Family Coins, 245. Hence his boasted patriotism was mingled with party feelings of the most narrow and personal cast; nor had he foresight enough to see the true interests of his country, or he could not have adhered to Pompey the faithless, instead of Cæsar the magnanimous, or have become a mere tool in vile hands.
2. The action of looking forward (lit. and fig.); also, a look forward (at some distant object).
1591. Spenser, Muiopotmos, 389.
| At length the foolish Flie without foresight, | |
| As he that did all daunger quite despise. |
1656. Bp. Hall, Occas. Medit. (1851), 22. My very eye is weary with the foresight of so great a distance; yet time and patience shall overcome it.
1667. Milton, P. L., XI. 367.
| Let Eve (for I have drencht her eyes) | |
| Here sleep below while thou to foresight wak’st, | |
| As once thou slepst, while Shee to life was formd. |
1778. Pennant, Tour Wales (1883), I. 20. From the summit of Garreg, a hill in this parish, the traveller may have an august foresight of the lofty tract of Snowdon.
1885. Whyte Melville, In Lena Delta, iv. 50. Our aftersight informed us of much that our foresight had overlooked.
b. Perception gained by looking forward; prospect; a sight or view into the future.
1422. E. E. Wills (1882), 49. Hauyng gode in forsyght, I haue maad and ordened this my present testament and my last wylle.
c. 1422. Hoccleve, Learn to Die, 526.
| And for they, vndisposid deeth nat dreede, | |
| fforsighte at al ne haan tho wrecches noon | |
| Of the harm which ther-of moot folwe neede, | |
| They deemen stonde as sikir as a stoon. |
1594. Carew, Huarte’s Exam. Wits xi. (1596), 169. The thoughts of mortall men are timerous, and their foresights vncertaine.
1649. Bp. Hall, Cases Consc., v. (1654), 30. Joseph, out of the fore-sight of a following dearth, bought up the seven yeares graine for Pharaoh.
a. 1674. Clarendon, Surv. Leviath. (1676), 176. It would not be justice in the Soveraign himself, to cause a mans house to be pulled down that is seven miles distant, upon a fore-sight that the fire may come thither.
1736. Butler, Anal., I. ii. 49. The good and bad consequences which follow our actions are his [God’s] appointment, and our foresight of those consequences is a warning given us by him how we are to act.
1876. Mozley, Univ. Serm., iii. 62. There is a peculiar machinery in her [nature] by which we are guarded against the naked effect of the perpetual foresight of death.
3. Care or provision for the future.
1375. Barbour, Bruce, XX. 314.
| With sa gude forsicht and sa viss, | |
| Or his furth-passyng ordanit he, | |
| That na thing mycht amendit be. |
1430. Lydgate, Chronicle of Troy, I. v.
| Alas the whyle if by prudent forsyght, | |
| Thou haddest had grace for to record aright. |
1513. Douglas, Æneis, VIII. ix. 74.
| Gyf it be sa ȝour godhed and grete mychtis | |
| Be prescience provyd hes, and forsichtis. |
1603. Knolles, Hist. Turks (1638), 111. Counsell grounded vpon no wise foresight or approoued experience, was more dangerous vnto him whom he would haue prouided for, than all the enemies murthering swords, as shorty after appeared.
1732. Lediard, Sethos, II. VIII. 257. He had had the foresight to order [it].
1833. Ht. Martineau, Manch. Strike, viii. 85. Those least disposed to foresight could not help asking themselves and each other what was to be done next time, if the remittances of the week should not superabound.
a. 1862. Buckle, Misc. Wks. (1872), I. 155. In hot climates, nature being bountiful, man is not obliged to use foresight.
† b. (God’s, Divine) foresight: = PROVIDENCE. Also, an instance or effect of Divine Providence.
a. 1300. Cursor M., 283 (Cott.).
| Þis lauerd þat is so mikul o miȝt | |
| He puruaid al in his for-sight. |
1375. Barbour, Bruce, I. 459.
| Bot God that maist is off all mycht, | |
| Preserwyt thaim in hys forsycht. |
1559. Mirr. Mag., Dk. Clarence, lvi.
| Will princes therfore not to thinke by murder | |
| They may auoide what prophecies behight, | |
| But by their meanes theyr mischiefes they may furder, | |
| And cause gods vengeaunce heauier to alight: | |
| Wo wurth the wretch yt strives with gods forsighte. |
1635–56. Cowley, Davideis, II. 827.
| The things thou saw’st are full of Truth and Light, | |
| Shap’d in the Glass of the Divine Foresight. |
1664. Marvell, Corr., Wks. 1872–5, II. 167. I find now a decency even in my defects, and that my want of language hath been but a foresight of the King my Master, and a fit complement upon His part, seeing upon so extraordinary occasions as these, the boldest eloquence would lose its speech, and had I an hundred tongues I should be struck silent.
4. Surveying. (See quot.). ? U.S. only.
1855. Davies & Peck, Math. Dict. (1857), Foresight. Inn Leveling, any reading of the leveling-rod, after the first, taken at a given station. The first reading is called a back-sight, and serves to connect the observation at the new station with those of the former station.
5. The foremost of the two sights on a gun; the muzzle-sight.
1859. Musketry Instr., 25. Raise the folding sight and the eye, without altering the position of the gun, until the fore-sight is in a line with the bull’s-eye.
1880. Times, 18 Oct., 4/3. In using the rifle a native rarely avails himself of the foresight.
