prognostication
/prɒɡnɒstɪˈkeɪʃn
/noun [mass noun]
1The action of prophesying future events: an unprecedented amount of soul-searching and prognostication...
- Most Stoics welcomed all forms of prognostication, for gaining knowledge of the future enabled the soul to accept its destiny, and astrology was especially favoured as demonstrating the harmony of the universe.
- Returning to the print realm for some final prognostication, one might wonder what the future holds.
- Yes, political prognostication and economic forecasting share the same occupational hazard of over-extrapolating from a few months of data.
1.1 [count noun] A prophecy: these gloomy prognostications proved to be unfounded...
- As academic life grew more removed from the convention, the prognostications became self-fulfilling prophecies.
- He points to the gloomy prognostications after Hurricane Andrew and 9 / 11.
- If you've got some last minute prognostications or thoughts on the subject, now is the time to spit them out so you can appear to be astute and prescient later on.
Synonyms
prediction, forecast, prophecy, divination, prognosis, projection
rare vaticination, auspication, prognostic
Origin
Late Middle English: from Old French prognosticacion, from medieval Latin prognosticatio(n-), from the verb prognosticare (see prognosticate).