The term clairvoyant was initially used in a 1672 play by the 2nd Duke of Buckingham, where it was defined as “clear-sighted”. Over time, this meaning shifted from “clear sight” to “foresight” and eventually became associated with psychic abilities in the mid-nineteenth century. The word has its origins in French, where it literally translates to “seeing clearly”, combining the word clair (also the origin of the name Claire, meaning “clear”) and the present participle of the verb voir, meaning “to see” (which is also found in words like voila, voyeur, and interview). The former stems from Latin clarus, which comes from Proto-Indo-European kele, meaning “to shout”. The latter, on the other hand, is also of Latin origin, derived from the verb videre, which traces back to Proto-Indo-European weid, still meaning “to see”.
