forebode
English
Alternative forms
- forbode (much less commonly used)
Etymology
From Middle English foreboden, from Old English forebodian, equivalent to fore- + bode.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /fɔːˈbəʊd/
Audio (UK) (file)
- Rhymes: -əʊd
Verb
forebode (third-person singular simple present forebodes, present participle foreboding, simple past and past participle foreboded)
- To predict a future event; to hint at something that will happen (especially as a literary device).
- 1850, Nathaniel Hawthorne, The Scarlet Letter, a Romance, Boston, Mass.: Ticknor, Reed, and Fields, OCLC 223202227:
- There can be, if I forebode aright, no power, short of the Divine mercy, to disclose, whether by uttered words, or by type or emblem, the secrets that may be buried with a human heart.
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- To be prescient of (some ill or misfortune); to have an inward conviction of, as of a calamity which is about to happen; to augur despondingly.
- 1741, Conyers Middleton, Life of Cicero:
- Sullen, desponding, and foreboding nothing but wars and desolation, as the certain consequence of Caesar's death.
- 1833–1834 (date written), Alfred Tennyson, “The Two Voices”, in Poems. […], volume II, London: Edward Moxon, […], published 1842, OCLC 1008064829, page 135:
- Here sits he shaping wings to fly: / His heart forebodes a mystery: / He names the name Eternity.
- 1837, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], Ethel Churchill: Or, The Two Brides. […], volume II, London: Henry Colburn, […], OCLC 21345056, page 160:
- Walter was disturbed by a low rap at the door. It was so indistinct and hesitating, that, at first, he thought himself mistaken; a second summons, however, led him to rise and open to his visitor. It was the very person that he foreboded—Mr. Curl.
- 1741, Conyers Middleton, Life of Cicero:
Synonyms
- (to portend or foretell): foretell, portend, predict
Derived terms
- forebodement
- foreboder
Translations
to predict a future event; to hint at something that will happen (especially as a literary device)
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Noun
forebode
- (obsolete) prognostication; presage
See also
- bode
References
- forebode at OneLook Dictionary Search