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Posted: Sun Sep 14, 2008 9:36 am
precocious • prih-KOH-shus • adjective
1 : exceptionally early in development or occurrence
*2 : exhibiting mature qualities at an unusually early age
Example Sentence: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was a precocious child who, by the age of five, was already composing his first musical pieces.
Did you know? "Precocious" got started in Latin when the prefix "prae-," meaning "ahead of," was combined with the verb "coquere," meaning "to cook" or "to ripen," to form the adjective "praecox," which means "early ripening" or "premature." By 1650, English speakers had turned "praecox" into "precocious" and were using it especially of plants that produced blossoms before their leaves came out. By the 1670s, "precocious" was also being used to describe humans who developed skills or talents before others typically did.
*Indicates the sense illustrated in the example sentence.
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Posted: Fri Sep 26, 2008 12:55 am
the word "prodigal" as in "prodigal son" parable, used to mean the same thing.
the prodigal son was ahead of time because he wanted his inheritance while his dad was still alive!
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