Insight
nounA deep and accurate understanding of a person, situation, or problem.
How to spell insight
7 letters · 2 syllables
How to pronounce insight
Say the part in capitals loudest.
What does insight mean?
- nounA deep and accurate understanding of a person, situation, or problem.
Insight in a sentence
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The report offered fresh insight into customer spending habits.
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Her years on the trading floor gave her real insight into market behaviour.
Where does insight come from?
Language of origin: Germanic
Insight comes from Middle English, formed from the native English elements in, meaning 'into' or 'inward', and sight, the power of seeing, which traces back to the Old English siht and the verb seon, 'to see'. The literal idea was an inner sight, the ability to see into something rather than merely look at its surface. It first appears around the 1200s with the sense of 'inner sight' or 'mental vision', and from there developed its modern meaning of a deep, clear understanding of a person or situation. The word also owes something to Middle Dutch and Middle Low German forms such as insicht, which carried the same notion of inward perception. The spelling trap is the silent gh in sight, a fossil of an old Germanic guttural sound that English stopped pronouncing but kept on the page, just as in light, night, and bright.
How the word is built
- in- (into)
- sight (the power of seeing)
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