precocious
pronunciation
How to pronounce precocious in British English:
UK [prɪˈkəʊʃəs]
How to pronounce precocious in American English:
US [prɪˈkoʊʃəs]
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- Adjective:
- characterized by or characteristic of exceptionally early development or maturity (especially in mental aptitude)
- appearing or developing early
Word Origin
- precocious
- precocious: [17] Precocious means etymologically ‘pre-cooked’. It was borrowed from Latin praecox, a derivative of the verb praecoquere ‘cook in advance’, which was a compound formed from the prefix prae- ‘before’ and coquere ‘cook’ (a relative of English cook and kitchen). But coquere was also used metaphorically for ‘ripen’, and so praecox also meant ‘early-ripening’ – whence English precocious ‘developing before its time’. The apricot is etymologically the ‘precocious’ fruit.=> apricot, cook, kiln, kitchen
- precocious (adj.)
- 1640s, "developed before the usual time" (of plants), with -ous + Latin praecox (genitive praecocis) "maturing early," from prae "before" (see pre-) + coquere "to ripen," literally "to cook" (see cook (n.)). Originally of flowers or fruits. Figurative use, of persons, dates from 1670s. Related: Precociously; precociousness.
Antonym
Example
- 1. He was lonely , unhappy and highly precocious .
- 2. These precocious babies are not any different from any normal baby , or from your baby .
- 3. Child narrators are often too precocious or too cute to work in novels .
- 4. Tess was a precocious eight-year-old girl when she heard her mom and dad talking about her little brother , andrew .
- 5. Tess was a precocious eight year old when she heard her mom and dad talking about her little brother , andrew .