betoken
English
Etymology
From Middle English bitoknen, bitacnen, from Old English betācnian (“to betoken, signify, designate”). Equivalent to be- + token. Cognate with Dutch betekenen (“to mean, signify”), German bezeichnen (“to call, designate”), Swedish beteckna (“to represent, designate, indicate”).
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /bɪˈtoʊ.kən/
Audio (UK) (file) Audio (US) (file) - Rhymes: -əʊkən
Verb
betoken (third-person singular simple present betokens, present participle betokening, simple past and past participle betokened)
- (transitive) To signify by some visible object; show by signs or tokens.
- 1557: Robert Recorde, The whetstone of witte, whiche is the seconde parte of Arithmetike : containyng the xtraction of Rootes : The Cossike practise, with the rule of Equation : and the workes of Surde Nombers.ʀ, page unknown (Ihon Kyngstone)
- There be other 2 signes in often use of which the first is made thus + and betokeneth more : the other is thus made – and betokeneth lesse.
- 1557: Robert Recorde, The whetstone of witte, whiche is the seconde parte of Arithmetike : containyng the xtraction of Rootes : The Cossike practise, with the rule of Equation : and the workes of Surde Nombers.ʀ, page unknown (Ihon Kyngstone)
- (transitive) To foreshow by present signs; indicate something future by that which is seen or known.
- 1853: Virgil, Charles Anthon, LL.D. [tr.], Æneïd of Virgil: With English Notes, Critical and Explanatory, a Metrical Clavis: And an Historical, Geographical, and Mythological Index, page 474 (Harper & Brothers, 329 & 331 Pearl Street, Franklin Square, New York)
- “ Ah ! hospitable land, thou (nevertheless) betokenest war,” i. e., although hospitable, thou nevertheless betokenest war. — Bello.
- 1853: Virgil, Charles Anthon, LL.D. [tr.], Æneïd of Virgil: With English Notes, Critical and Explanatory, a Metrical Clavis: And an Historical, Geographical, and Mythological Index, page 474 (Harper & Brothers, 329 & 331 Pearl Street, Franklin Square, New York)
Synonyms
- (signify): indicate, mark, note
- (foreshow): portend, presage, forebode
Translations
show by signs or tokens
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indicate something future by that which is seen or known.
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References
- betoken in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.