foreseeability

English edit

Etymology edit

From foresee +‎ -ability.

Noun edit

foreseeability (usually uncountable, plural foreseeabilities)

(especially law) The quality of being foreseeable; predictability.
Synonyms: foreseeableness, previsibility

Antonym: unforeseeability
- 1932 May 1, Fowler Vincent Harper, “Foreseeability Factor in the Law of Torts”, in Notre Dame Law Review‎^[1], volume 7, number 4, Notre Dame, I.N.: Notre Dame Law School, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 468:
  Probably the most powerful and most uniform social policy crystallized in the various rules and doctrines of tort law is to be found in the concept of foreseeability or expectability of certain harms from certain types of conduct.
- 2007 February 6, Danny Hakim, quoting Kathleen B. Hogan, “Two Misdemeanor Charges in Lake George Capsizing”, in The New York Times‎^[2], New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2022-11-26:
  "If you foresee the event and you go forward, then you are criminally negligent," she said, adding, "This was a boat that navigated on the waters of Lake George since 1979. In terms of criminal negligence, there clearly wasn't the foreseeability that there may be in civil negligence."
- 2016 July 12, James Fallows, “David vs. Goliath in the South China Sea: David Wins, at Least This Round”, in The Atlantic‎^[3], Washington, D.C.: The Atlantic Monthly Group, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 10 August 2023:
  The foreseeability of that outcome is precisely why the Chinese government has preemptively been pooh-poohing the court and its legitimacy over the past few weeks, and lining up a ragtag set of allies to support its cause. This group includes none of the countries most affected by China's expanded maritime activities, and it features those reliant on Chinese aid or trade.
- 2017 August 11, Richard Vize, “Will the healthcare data revolution spell the end for doctors’ autonomy?”, in Katharine Viner, editor, The Guardian‎^[4], London: Guardian News & Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2022-08-18:
  While examining a boy's eyes the optometrist failed to spot symptoms of a brain condition. The court overturned the conviction for gross negligence manslaughter on the grounds that it undermined the legal test of "foreseeability", which requires proof of a "serious and obvious risk of death" at the time of the error.