presage
/ˈprɛsɪdʒ
/verb /prɪˈseɪdʒ / [with object]
/ [with object]1Be a sign or warning of (an imminent event, typically an unwelcome one): the heavy clouds above the moorland presaged snow...
- However, this entry seems to presage Kenny's imminent defeat, and in so doing raises the ethnic issue once again.
- Three years after she developed asthma, I had also; her stomach problems presaged similar ones for me.
- This makes possible rapid identification of a disturbing trend that could presage an adverse event.
Synonyms
portend, augur, foreshadow, foretell, prophesy, be an omen of, herald, be a sign of, be the harbinger of, be a warning of, give a warning of, warn of, be an indication of, indicate, be a presage of, signal, bode, announce, promise, threaten;
point to, mean, signify, spell, denote, add up to, amount to
literary betoken, foretoken, forebode, harbinger
1.1 archaic (Of a person) predict: lands he could measure, terms and tides presage...
- We may speculate too whether they will presage anything very different from what was said.
- Repeatedly the disasters he presaged were less troubling than I had feared.
noun
1An omen or portent: the fever was a sombre presage of his final illness...
- Perhaps this morning was a promise of beauty yet to come, a presage of what we can expect later on this week.
- For this is both a presage of the future, reflected in her grave and silent face as she supports his little body, and the epitome of what it is to be a mother.
- Aware of dire presages connected to the coming of a solar eclipse, he sought to avert the impending dangers; but he died at dawn on May 21, 1639.
Synonyms
omen, sign, indication, portent, warning, forewarning, harbinger, foreshadowing, augury, signal, promise, threat, ill omen, forecast, prediction, prognostication, prophecy, straw in the wind, writing on the wall, hint
literary foretoken
archaic auspice
1.1 archaic A feeling of presentiment or foreboding: he had a strong presage that he had only a very short time to live...
- Also, as I have been informed, he had a presage before he first attempted it, which did foresee it would turn to his ruin.
- Terrified by her presage of death, the patient immediately contacted Mitchell for a series of consultations.
Derivatives
presageful
presager
- It is therefore as dumb as the presagers.
- Falls have been claimed to be ominous presagers of death but this view is based on a flawed study.
Origin
Late Middle English (as a noun): via French from Latin praesagium, from praesagire 'forebode', from prae 'before' + sagire 'perceive keenly'.