Crossword clues for perspicacity
The Collaborative International Dictionary
Perspicacity \Per`spi*cac"i*ty\, n. [L. perspicacitas: cf. F.
perspicacit['e]. See Perspicacious.]
The state of being perspicacious; acuteness of sight or of
intelligence; acute discernment.
--Sir T. Browne.
Douglas Harper's Etymology Dictionary
1540s, from Middle French perspicacité (15c.) and directly from Late Latin perspicacitas "sharp-sightedness, discernment," from Latin perspicax "sharp-sighted, having the power of seeing through," from perspicere "look through, look closely at" (see perspective).
Wiktionary
n. 1 acute discernment or understanding; insight. 2 The human faculty or power to mentally grasp or understand clearly. 3 (context obsolete English) keen eyesight.
WordNet
n. intelligence manifested by being astute (as in business dealings) [syn: shrewdness, astuteness, perspicaciousness]
the capacity to assess situations or circumstances shrewdly and to draw sound conclusions [syn: judgment, judgement, sound judgment, sound judgement]
Wikipedia
Perspicacity (also called perspicaciousness) is a penetrating discernment—a clarity of vision or intellect which provides a deep understanding and insight.
In 17th century Europe René Descartes devised systematic rules for clear thinking in his work Regulæ ad directionem ingenii (Rules for the direction of natural intelligence). In Descartes' scheme, intelligence consisted of two faculties: perspicacity, which provided an understanding or intuition of distinct detail; and sagacity, which enabled reasoning about the details in order to make deductions. Rule 9 was De Perspicacitate Intuitionis (On the Perspicacity of Intuition). He summarised the rule as
In his study of the elements of wisdom, the modern psychometrician Robert Sternberg identified perspicacity as one of its six components or dimensions; the other five being reasoning, sagacity, learning, judgement and the expeditious use of information. In his analysis, perspicacity was described as
In an article dated October 7, 1966, the journal Science discussed NASA scientist-astronaut program recruitment efforts:
Being perspicacious about other people, rather than having false illusions, is a sign of good mental health. The quality is needed in psychotherapists who engage in person-to-person dialogue and counselling of the mentally ill.
The artist René Magritte illustrated the quality in his 1936 painting Perspicacity. The picture shows an artist at work who studies his subject intently: it is an egg. But the painting which he is creating is not of an egg; it is an adult bird in flight.
Usage examples of "perspicacity".
In men, too, the same merciless perspicacity sometimes shows itself--men recognized to be more aloof and uninflammable than the general--men of special talent for the logical--sardonic men, cynics.
So much for Robin, and for my Lady Lowestoft, scornful of his perspicacity.
Moreover, though the emissaries of the Mikado had no doubt studied the Commonwealth with a perspicacity similar to that displayed elsewhere in the past, they had naturally turned their attention to the centres of population and national power.
Love foresees all that the keenest perspicacity could possibly find out.
He understood that alone, scarcely master of himself, governed only by the inspirations of inexperience, never would he have the patient perspicacity of this singular man.
Chaumel paused briefly in his chattering to beam at Keff's evident perspicacity and pointed out another stomach-twister.
As the car stops outside her house, he clambers out hastily and dodges behind the garden wall, giving thanks for his perspicacity in not prematurely demolishing it in reshaping the garden.
Sir Charles was becoming so lost in admiration of his own perspicacity that he had forgotten all his love of long, winding sentences and smooth - rolling subordinate clauses.