Percipient

Percipient is an adjective that means having deep insight or understanding. It can also be used as a noun that means ‘one who perceives.’ The Latin word for ‘perceive’ is percipere (PAIR chee paire ay). When used as an adjective, our word of the day is a synonym of ‘discerning,’ as in: when it comes to shopping for my clothes, I trust my wife’s judgement more than mine. She is a very percipient shopper. As a noun, percipient, may refer simply to anyone who perceives things or it may specifically refer to someone with special powers to perceive, such a psychic: Tanya wanted to know where things were headed in her career, so she hired a percipient to read her future.