foresight

Etymology

From Middle English forsight, forsyght, forsichte (since 14th c.), a calque from providentia equivalent to fore- + sight. Compare Scots foresicht (“foresight”), Saterland Frisian Foarsicht (“caution”), West Frisian foarútsjoch (“foresight”), Dutch voorzicht (“foresight”), German Vorsicht (“caution; care; attention”).

noun

1. The ability to foresee or prepare wisely for the future.
   Having the foresight to prepare an evacuation plan may have saved their lives.
   In the dead state all is apparently without motion. No agent within indicates design, intelligence, or foresight: […] 1822, John Barclay, chapter I, in An Inquiry Into the Opinions, Ancient and Modern, Concerning Life and Organization, Edinburgh, London: Bell & Bradfute; Waugh & Innes; G. & W. B. Whittaker, section I, page 2
   The specifiers of the Freightliner network had the foresight to base the rail journey on carrying ISO containers which are 8ft wide and originally 8ft tall (although now increased to a height of 9ft 6ins), with a variety of lengths. May 20 2020, Industry Insider, “An online boost for freight”, in Rail, page 68
2. the front sight on a rifle or similar weapon
3. (surveying) a bearing taken forwards towards a new object