Standard Lemma guide

precocity

noun · 2 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

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  • /pɹəˈkɒsɪti/
  • US: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • rhymes with -ɒsɪti

1

noun

Meaning 1

The state of being precocious.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

Examples

  • 1817 William Wirt, Sketches of the Life and Character of Patrick Henry, New York: M'elrath, Bangs & Co., 1834, Section I, pp. 23-4, https://books.google.ca/books?id=5vE5AAAAcAAJ&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false I cannot learn that he gave in his youth, any evidence of that precocity which sometimes distinguishes uncommon genius.
  • 1946, Arnold J. Toynbee, A Study of History, Abridgement of Volumes I-VI by D.C. Somervell, Oxford University Press, Chapter XII, p. 242, https://books.google.ca/books?id=IbJ-31LPvyoC&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false Anna Comnena, the Byzantine princess turned historian, sees our eleventh-century forebears in just this light, as appears in the mixture of horror with contempt which is her reaction to the mechanical ingenuity of the Crusaders' cross-bow, a Western novelty of her day which—with the characteristic precocity of lethal inventions—preceded by several centuries the invention of clockwork [...]
  • 2024 (October 20th) The Simpsons season 36 episode 3 "Desperately Seeking Lisa" Yes, she's truly a special young person, just brimming with precocity. In fact, I was thinking she might be a good fit for the Horace Frick Academy.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: precociousness

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

intelligence achieved far ahead of normal developmental schedules

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: precociousness

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: intelligence

History

Etymology

From French précocité.

Across languages

Translations

14 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Bulgarian: преждевременно развитие (preždevremenno razvitie) — state of being precocious
  • Catalan: precocitat — state of being precocious
  • Chinese Mandarin: 早慧 (zǎohuì) — state of being precocious
  • Chinese Mandarin: 早熟 (zǎoshú) — state of being precocious
  • German: Frühreife — state of being precocious
  • Irish: seanaimsearthacht — state of being precocious
  • Irish: seanchríonnacht — state of being precocious
  • Irish: seanórthacht — state of being precocious
  • Italian: precocità — state of being precocious
  • Italian: precocia — state of being precocious
  • Japanese: 早熟 — state of being precocious
  • Korean: 조숙 (josuk) — state of being precocious
  • Spanish: precocidad — state of being precocious
  • Swedish: brådmogenhet — state of being precocious