psychic English · revision 39585

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=1845, Dublin University Magazine|origins=grc ψυχή}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * UK: /ˈsaɪkɪk/^(Wiktionary)

+ * US: /ˈsaɪkɪk/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|grc|ψυχικός|tr=psūkhikós|t=of the soul, spirit or mind]],^(Etymonline)^(MWU 2024)^(SOED 2002)^(Barnhart 1988) formed on [[m|grc|ψυχή|tr=psūkhḗ|t=soul, mind, life]], the source of [[psyche]].^(Etymonline)^(MWU 2024)^(Klein 1966) The OED, revising the entry in 2007, takes it partly from post-classical [[la-lat|psychicus|t=relating to the natural or animal soul]] (4th century), whose noun meant a person ruled by the natural soul rather than the spirit.^(OED 2026) 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.^(OED 2026)^(Etymonline) Barnhart allows that it may have come through [[fr|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''.^(Barnhart 1988) The American Heritage Dictionary refers the Greek noun to the Indo-European root [[ine-pro|*bhes-]].^(AHD 2024)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Relating to the human mind or psyche; mental, psychological: 1845, in the ''Dublin University Magazine''.^(OED 2026) Merriam-Webster also dates the adjective to 1845, while Barnhart has 1871 and Etymonline 1872 for the sense "of the soul".^(MWU 2024)^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Theologians used it from 1858 for what belongs to the natural or animal soul as distinct from the spirit.^(OED 2026) 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'';^(OED 2026)^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) said of a person thought to have such powers, it is dated 1895 by Barnhart and 1905 by the OED.^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 2026) 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),^(OED 2026)^(MWU 2024) while Etymonline dates it to 1870 and Barnhart to 1871.^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) 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).^(OED 2026) In bridge, a ''psychic bid'' deliberately misrepresents the bidder's hand (1932).^(OED 2026)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1642 – the older adjective ''psychical'';^(Barnhart 1988) the 1640s in Etymonline.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1845 – relating to the mind; mental.^(OED 2026)^(MWU 2024)

+ * 1858 – (theology) relating to the natural soul.^(OED 2026)

+ * 1860 – the noun, a medium;^(OED 2026)^(MWU 2024) 1870 in Etymonline.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1871 – relating to paranormal phenomena.^(OED 2026)^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1874 – (church history) a less spiritual Christian, in Montanist eyes.^(OED 2026)

+ * 1905 – of a person, having paranormal powers;^(OED 2026) 1895 in Barnhart.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1909 – ''the psychic'', the realm of psychic phenomena.^(OED 2026)

+ * 1932 – (bridge) a psychic bid.^(OED 2026)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Adjective===

+ # Relating to forces or abilities that seem to lie outside natural laws, such as [[telepathy]] or [[clairvoyance]].^(Collins 2023)^(AHD 2024)

+ # Of a person: believed to be sensitive to such forces: ''a psychic aunt who read tea leaves''.^(Collins 2023)^(OED 2026)

+ # Relating to the [[mind]]; mental rather than physical.^(Collins 2023)^(OED 2026)

+ # (bridge) Of a bid: made on a weaker hand than usual, to mislead the opponents.^(Collins 2023)^(OED 2026)

+

+ ===Noun===

+ # A person believed to have psychic powers; a [[medium]] or [[clairvoyant]].^(Collins 2023)^(OED 2026)

+ # (bridge) A psychic bid.^(OED 2026)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[psychically]]

+ * [[intrapsychic]]

+ * [[psychic income]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[psychological]]

+ * [[psyche]]

+ * [[psychical]]

+ * [[psychology]]

+ * [[psychiatry]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}