onsightn.adv.adj.
/ˈɒnsʌɪt/, U.S. /ˈɔnˌsaɪt/, /ˈɑnˌsaɪt/ Now rare.
A. n.
1. The capacity to gain an accurate and penetrative understanding of things as they are to be in the future; = insight n.1
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > expectation > foresight, foreknowledge > [noun]
foreshowinga1050
foreknowingc1374
foreseeingc1374
fore-wit1377
before-knowingc1384
presciencec1384
fore-wittingc1386
presciencec1395
foresight14..
previdence?a1425
prevision?a1425
prenostication?a1450
precognitiona1500
before-witting1532
foreknowledge1535
fore-fetch1554
presciency1572
fore-wisdom1576
prenotion1588
presension1597
prospecta1616
presensation1653
prospiciency1681
prevoyance1767
onsight1838
preview1855
precog1954
1838 Christian Examiner & Gen. Rev. Jan. 310 He [sc. Tennyson] has the true insight, or onsight, (Anschauen) as the Germans call it.
1851 J. W. Warter in R. Southey Common-place Bk. 4th Ser. 724 Such was the continued onsight of Southey.
1869 A. D. Whitney Hitherto xi. 136 She was quick to see, not only into things, but on to what they were to be;..to put her faculty into a single word..you would call it onsight.
1948 B. Soper in P. Russell Exam. Ezra Pound (1950) 233 Pound's technique..is..the practical result of a..belief that the precept or moment of interpreted ‘onsight’—Anschauung—is the key to reality.
2. Rock Climbing. An ascent that is successful on the first attempt and performed without prior information about the route.
ΚΠ
1990 Climbing June 24/4 The season's best male on-sights went to Jean Baptiste Tribout (France) for Choke on This (5.13a).
1994 High May 30/4 This was almost certainly the hardest on sight ever made by a climber of his age.
2011 D. Hague & D. Hunter Redpoint Introd. p. viii/1 While many attempt onsights after inspecting the route for just a few minutes from the ground, longer periods of study are not unheard of.
B. adv.
Rock Climbing. Successfully on the first attempt, without prior information about the route.
ΚΠ
1971 Ascent July 39/2 Harder climbs are being done, and in better style: free on sight, fewer pins, faster, cleaner.
1978 Mountain Nov. 66/4 The route was cleaned by abseil prior to the ascent, but repeated on sight the following day by Cuthbertson and Dougie Mullin.
2007 Climb Mag. May 46/1 I have a particularly vivid memory of soloing this route on-sight and arriving at this crux traverse late on an autumn afternoon.
C. adj.
Rock Climbing. Designating or relating to an ascent that is successful on the first attempt, and is performed without prior information about the route.
ΚΠ
1974 Mountain Feb. 27/1 The event which caused a big stir in the mountaineering world at that time was the ‘on sight’ first ascent in August 1901 by Baker, Puttrell and Oppenheimer.
1991 Climbing Feb. 94/2 Flashing. This, the most stylish form of ascent, means to climb a route first try, without falling. There are two types of flashes: on-sight and the plain flash.
1998 On the Edge June 8 The three day event..included on-sight and redpoint routes. Ian was the only one to top out on the on-sight route.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2004; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
onsightv.
/ˈɒnsʌɪt/, U.S. /ˈɔnˌsaɪt/, /ˈɑnˌsaɪt/ Rock Climbing.
transitive. To complete (a route, climb, etc.) successfully on the first attempt, without having prior information about it.
ΚΠ
1990 Climbing Feb. 30/2 Lynn Hill onsighted Kings of Rap (5.12d).
1998 Rock & Ice Sept. 28/1 In America, we hear tales of Europeans who can onsight 5.14 or redpoint 5.15.
2004 On the Edge June 36/2 Now I am a coward, as any of my friends will tell you, so whilst I am perfectly happy to on-sight a Severe or so, up there at my limit I want the beta.
This is a new entry (OED Third Edition, June 2015; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.adv.adj.1838v.1990