Adjacent Words

Betoken definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

BETO'KEN, v.t. beto'kn. [be and token.]
1. To signify by some visible object; to show by signs.
A dewy cloud, and in the cloud a bow
Betokening peace from God.
2. To foreshow by present signs; to indicate something future by that which is seen or known; as, a dark cloud often betokens a storm.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

v
1: be a signal for or a symptom of; "These symptoms indicate a serious illness"; "Her behavior points to a severe neurosis"; "The economic indicators signal that the euro is undervalued" [syn: bespeak, betoken, indicate, point, signal]
2: indicate by signs; "These signs bode bad news" [syn: bode, portend, auspicate, prognosticate, omen, presage, betoken, foreshadow, augur, foretell, prefigure, forecast, predict]

Merriam Webster's

transitive verb (-tokened; betokening) Date: 15th century 1. to typify beforehand ; presage 2. to give evidence of ; show

Oxford Reference Dictionary

v.tr. 1 be a sign of; indicate. 2 augur. Etymology: OE (as BE-, tacnian signify: see TOKEN)

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Betoken Be*to"ken, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Betokened; p. pr. & vb. n. Betokening.] 1. To signify by some visible object; to show by signs or tokens. A dewy cloud, and in the cloud a bow . . . Betokening peace from God, and covenant new. --Milton. 2. To foreshow by present signs; to indicate something future by that which is seen or known; as, a dark cloud often betokens a storm. Syn: To presage; portend; indicate; mark; note.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(betokens, betokening, betokened) If something betokens something else, it is a sign of this thing. (FORMAL) The president alone betokened the national identity. = indicate, signal VERB: V n

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

v. a. 1. Signify, denote, indicate, represent, typify, imply, prove, evince, show, argue, betray. 2. Prefigure, foreshow, foreshadow, foretell, presage, portend, augur, presignify.

Moby Thesaurus

affect, announce, approve, argue, attest, augur, be construed as, be indicative of, be significant of, be symptomatic of, bespeak, bode, brandish, breathe, bring forth, bring forward, bring into view, bring out, bring to notice, characterize, connote, dangle, demonstrate, denominate, denote, develop, differentiate, disclose, display, divine, divulge, dramatize, embody, enact, entail, evidence, evince, exhibit, expose to view, express, flaunt, flourish, forebode, foreshadow, foreshow, foretoken, furnish evidence, give evidence, give indication of, give sign, give token, go to show, highlight, hint, identify, illuminate, illustrate, imply, import, incarnate, indicate, involve, make clear, make plain, manifest, mark, materialize, mean, note, omen, parade, perform, point to, portend, prefigure, preindicate, presage, present, presign, presignal, presignify, pretypify, produce, promise, refer to, represent, reveal, roll out, set forth, show, show forth, show signs of, signalize, signify, speak for itself, speak volumes, spell, spotlight, stand for, suggest, symbolize, symptomatize, symptomize, tell, tend to show, testify, token, trot out, typify, unfold, wave, witness