perspicuous

perspicuous

English

Etymology

From Latin perspicuus, in turn from perspiciō (“see through”).

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /pəˈspɪkjuːəs/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /pɚˈspɪkjuːəs/

Adjective

perspicuous (comparative more perspicuous, superlative most perspicuous)

1. Clearly expressed, easy to understand; lucid.
   • 1776, Adam Smith, The Wealth of Nations, Book I, Chapter 4,

     I am always willing to run some hazard of being tedious in order to be sure that I am perspicuous […]

2. (logic) Of a language or notation, such as that of formal propositional calculus: where the process of inference from premises to conclusion is explicitly laid out.
3. (rare) Transparent; translucent.

Synonyms

• (clearly expressed): See also Thesaurus:comprehensible
• (transparent): See also Thesaurus:transparent

Antonyms

• (clearly expressed): See also Thesaurus:incomprehensible
• (transparent): See also Thesaurus:opaque
• imperspicuous

Derived terms

• perspicuously
• perspicuousness

Related terms

Related terms

• perspicuity
• perspicacious
• perspicaciously
• perspicacity
• perspective

Translations

clearly expressed

Bulgarian: ясен (bg) (jasen), прегледен (bg) (pregleden), разбираем (bg) (razbiraem) Chinese: Mandarin: 明白 (zh) (mingbai) Dutch: duidelijk (nl), begrijpelijk (nl), klaar (nl) Greek: σαφής (el) (safís) Korean: 명백한 (myeongbaekhan) Latin: perspicuus Russian: ясный (ru) (jasnyj), понятный (ru) (ponjatnyj), чёткий (ru) (čótkij) Spanish: perspicuo

logic: explicitly laid out

Bulgarian: експлицитен (bg) (ekspliciten)

References

• “perspicuous”, in The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd edition, Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1989, →ISBN.