omniscience

noun

om·​ni·​science äm-ˈni-shən(t)s How to pronounce omniscience (audio)
: the quality or state of being omniscient
the brilliant military mind … gradually became infected by a conviction of military and political omniscienceDrew Middleton

Examples of omniscience in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web Here Shteyngart uses a 19th-century-style omniscience, moving from mind to mind within a scene (and, like Tolstoy, even occasionally inhabiting the minds of animals) while drawing back and commenting to the reader from a perspective that none of the characters are privy to. New York Times, 2 Nov. 2021 Neither party can claim omniscience. Ezra Klein New York Times, Star Tribune, 29 Apr. 2021 The same omniscience that once led him to embrace the Iraq War is now reborn in a manifesto that would make foreign intervention rare, transforming the United States into a Western nation like every other: isolationist by default, timid by inclination. Tunku Varadarajan, WSJ, 13 Jan. 2023 The story benefits from this sense of omniscience. Sheri Linden, The Hollywood Reporter, 15 Sep. 2022 As Eugenides has pointed out, American postmodernism, as practiced by writers such as John Barth, Thomas Pynchon, and Robert Coover, was political in nature: these writers’ distrust of narrative omniscience was linked to their distrust of the U.S. government. Ruth Franklin, The New Yorker, 14 Mar. 2022 Given the failure to achieve consilience within physics and biology—not to mention the replication crisis and other problems—scientists should stop indulging in fantasies about conquering all human culture and attaining something akin to omniscience. John Horgan, Scientific American, 25 June 2021 This affectionate wink at her audience also establishes the narrator’s shifty, subjective omniscience. Morgan Parker, New York Times, 20 Oct. 2022 Barring total omniscience population history will always probably matter to some extent, because population history influences suites of traits. Razib Khan, Discover Magazine, 28 May 2013 See More

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'omniscience.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

Medieval Latin omniscientia, from Latin omni- + scientia knowledge — more at science

First Known Use

circa 1610, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of omniscience was circa 1610

Dictionary Entries Near omniscience

Cite this Entry

“Omniscience.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/omniscience. Accessed 3 Oct. 2023.

Kids Definition

omniscience

noun
om·​ni·​science äm-ˈnish-ən(t)s How to pronounce omniscience (audio)
: the quality or state of being omniscient
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