prognosticate

English

WOTD – 22 April 2006

Etymology

From Medieval Latin prognosticare; see prognostic for more.

Pronunciation

Audio (US) (file)
IPA^(key): /pɹɒɡˈnɒstɪkeɪt/

Verb

prognosticate (third-person singular simple present prognosticates, present participle prognosticating, simple past and past participle prognosticated)

(transitive) To predict or forecast, especially through the application of skill.
Synonyms: foretell, prophesy
Examining the tea-leaves, she prognosticated dark days ahead.
- 1609, William Shakespeare, “Sonnet 14”, in Shake-speares Sonnets. […], London: By G[eorge] Eld for T[homas] T[horpe] and are to be sold by William Aspley, OCLC 216596634:
  But from thine eyes my knowledge I derive,
  And constant stars in them I read such art
  As 'Truth and beauty shall together thrive,
  If from thyself, to store thou wouldst convert';
  Or else of thee this I prognosticate:
  'Thy end is truth's and beauty's doom and date.'
- 1847 December, Ellis Bell [pseudonym; Emily Brontë], Wuthering Heights, volume (please specify |volume=I or II), London: Thomas Cautley Newby, […], OCLC 156123328:
  ...to-morrow I intend lengthening the night till afternoon. I prognosticate for myself an obstinate cold, at least.
- 1915 – Virginia Woolf, The Voyage Out ch. 2
  All old people and many sick people were drawn, were it only for a foot or two, into the open air, and prognosticated pleasant things about the course of the world.
(transitive) To presage, betoken.
Synonyms: foretoken, foreshadow, portend
The bluebells may prognosticate an early spring this year.

Related terms

prognosis
prognostic
prognostication
prognostize

Translations

predict, foretell

Arabic: أَنْذَرَ‎ (ʾanḏara)
Bulgarian: предсказвам (bg) (predskazvam), прогнозирам (prognoziram)
Danish: forudsige, spå
Faroese: spáa
Finnish: ennustaa (fi)
French: pronostiquer (fr)
German: prognostizieren (de)
Hungarian: prognosztizál (hu)
Icelandic: spá (is)
Ido: prognozar (io)
Latin: prognosticare, ōminor
Maori: waitohu
Norwegian:
Bokmål: forutsi (no), spå
Nynorsk: spå
Portuguese: prognosticar (pt)
Russian: предска́зывать (ru) (predskázyvatʹ), прогнозировать (ru) (prognozirovatʹ)
Spanish: pronosticar (es)
Swedish: förutsäga (sv), spå (sv)

betoken

Bulgarian: вещая (bg) (veštaja), предвещавам (bg) (predveštavam)
Finnish: enteillä (fi)
French: présager (fr)
Russian: предвеща́ть (ru) (predveščátʹ)
Swedish: förebåda (sv)

Italian

Verb

prognosticate

inflection of prognosticare:
1. second-person plural present indicative
2. second-person plural imperative

Participle

prognosticate f pl

feminine plural of prognosticato