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psychic

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Etymology and origin of the English word psychic

Confidence
Established
Formation
Borrowing
First attested
1845, Dublin University Magazine
Borrowed from
Ancient Greek ψυχικός
Ultimate origin
Ancient Greek ψυχή

Pronunciation

  • UK: /ˈsaɪkɪk/[1]
  • US: /ˈsaɪkɪk/[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Ancient Greek ψυχικός (psūkhikós, “of the soul, spirit or mind”),[2][3][4][5] formed on ψυχή (psūkhḗ, “soul, mind, life”), the source of psyche.[2][3][6] The OED, revising the entry in 2007, takes it partly from post-classical Late Latin psychicus (“relating to the natural or animal soul”) (4th century), whose noun meant a person ruled by the natural soul rather than the spirit.[7] In Hellenistic Greek the adjective was opposed to the word for spiritual, as in St Paul (1 Corinthians 2:14), and earlier to the word for bodily.[7][2] Barnhart allows that it may have come through French psychique, but thinks a direct Greek borrowing more likely, and notes that it is not a shortening of the older psychical (1642), since psychic had the paranormal meaning some eleven years before psychical.[5] The American Heritage Dictionary refers the Greek noun to the Indo-European root Proto-Indo-European *bhes-.[8]

Earliest recorded meaning

Relating to the human mind or psyche; mental, psychological: 1845, in the Dublin University Magazine.[7] Merriam-Webster also dates the adjective to 1845, while Barnhart has 1871 and Etymonline 1872 for the sense "of the soul".[3][5][2]

Semantic evolution

Theologians used it from 1858 for what belongs to the natural or animal soul as distinct from the spirit.[7] The sense that now dominates, relating to phenomena such as telepathy and clairvoyance, is recorded from 1871, in a title in the Proceedings of the Royal Society;[7][2][5] said of a person thought to have such powers, it is dated 1895 by Barnhart and 1905 by the OED.[5][7] The noun, a medium or clairvoyant, is older than the paranormal adjective in the OED and Merriam-Webster (1860, in a letter of W. D. Howells),[7][3] while Etymonline dates it to 1870 and Barnhart to 1871.[2][5] Church historians use it for those whom the Montanists regarded as less spiritual than themselves (1874) and, in Gnostic thought, for people between the worldly and the fully spiritual (1894).[7] In bridge, a psychic bid deliberately misrepresents the bidder's hand (1932).[7][9]

Timeline

  • 1642 – the older adjective psychical;[5] the 1640s in Etymonline.[2]
  • 1845 – relating to the mind; mental.[7][3]
  • 1858 – (theology) relating to the natural soul.[7]
  • 1860 – the noun, a medium;[7][3] 1870 in Etymonline.[2]
  • 1871 – relating to paranormal phenomena.[7][2][5]
  • 1874 – (church history) a less spiritual Christian, in Montanist eyes.[7]
  • 1905 – of a person, having paranormal powers;[7] 1895 in Barnhart.[5]
  • 1909 – the psychic, the realm of psychic phenomena.[7]
  • 1932 – (bridge) a psychic bid.[7]

Modern meaning

Adjective

  1. Relating to forces or abilities that seem to lie outside natural laws, such as telepathy or clairvoyance.
  2. Of a person: believed to be sensitive to such forces: a psychic aunt who read tea leaves.
  3. Relating to the mind; mental rather than physical.
  4. (bridge) Of a bid: made on a weaker hand than usual, to mislead the opponents.

Noun

  1. A person believed to have psychic powers; a medium or clairvoyant.
  2. (bridge) A psychic bid.

Word family

  • psychically
  • intrapsychic
  • psychic income

References

  1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  3. ^ a b c d e f Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  4. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  6. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  8. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
  9. ^ Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins

Related etymologies

Cite this entry

“Psychic.” Etymologically, 22 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/en/psychic. Accessed 23 Oct. 2026.

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