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n. 1. Psychology The illusion of having already experienced something actually being experienced for the first time. 2. a. An impression of having seen or experienced something before: Old-timers watched the stock-market crash with a distinct sense of déjà vu. b. Dull familiarity; monotony: the déjà vu of the tabloid headlines. [French déjà-vu : déjà, already (from Old French des ja, from now on, from des, from + ja, now + from Latin iam) + vu, seen (from Old French veu, from Vulgar Latin vidūtus, alteration of vīsus, past participle of vidēre, to see; see weid- in the Appendix of Indo-European roots).] |
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