Adjacent Words

Presage definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

PRE'SAGE, n. [L. proesagium; proe, before, and sagio, to perceive or foretell.] Something which foreshows a future event; a prognostic; a present fact indicating something to come.
Joy and shout, presage of victory.
PRESA'GE, v.t. To forebode; to foreshow; to indicate by some present fact what is to follow or come to pass. A fog rising from a river in an autumnal morning presages a pleasant day. A physical phenomenon cannot be considered as presaging an event, unless it has some connection with it in cause. Hence the error of vulgar superstition, which presages good or evil from facts which can have no relation to the future event.
1. To foretell; to predict; to prophesy.
Wish'd freedom I presage you soon will find.
PRESA'GE, v.i. To form or utter a prediction; with of. We may presage of heats and rains. We may presage of heats and rains. [Not common nor elegant.]

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: a foreboding about what is about to happen
2: a sign of something about to happen; "he looked for an omen before going into battle" [syn: omen, portent, presage, prognostic, prognostication, prodigy] v
1: 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

I. noun Etymology: Middle English, from Latin praesagium, from praesagus having a foreboding, from prae- + sagus prophetic — more at seek Date: 14th century 1. something that foreshadows or portends a future event ; omen 2. an intuition or feeling of what is going to happen in the future 3. archaic prognostication 4. warning or indication of the future • presageful adjective II. verb (presaged; presaging) Date: 1562 transitive verb 1. to give an omen or warning of ; foreshadow 2. foretell, predict intransitive verb to make or utter a prediction • presager noun, obsolete

Oxford Reference Dictionary

n. & v. --n. 1 an omen or portent. 2 a presentiment or foreboding. --v.tr. 1 portend, foreshadow. 2 give warning of (an event etc.) by natural means. 3 (of a person) predict or have a presentiment of. Derivatives: presageful adj. presager n. Etymology: ME f. F présage, présager f. L praesagium f. praesagire forebode (as PRAE-, sagire perceive keenly)

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Presage Pre*sage", v. i. To form or utter a prediction; -- sometimes used with of. --Dryden.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Presage Pre"sage, n. [F. pr['e]sage, L. praesagium, from praesagire. See Presage, v. t. ] 1. Something which foreshows or portends a future event; a prognostic; an omen; an augury. ``Joy and shout -- presage of victory.'' --Milton. 2. Power to look the future, or the exercise of that power; foreknowledge; presentiment. If there be aught of presage in the mind. --Milton. Syn: Prognostic; omen; token; sign; presentiment.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Presage Pre*sage", v. t. [imp. & p. p. Presaged (-s[=a]jd"); p. pr. & vb. n. Presaging. ] [F. pr['e]sager, L. praesagire: prae before + sagire to perceive acutely or sharply. See Sagacious.] 1. To have a presentiment of; to feel beforehand; to foreknow. 2. To foretell; to predict; to foreshow; to indicate. My dreams presage some joyful news at hand. --Shak.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(presages, presaging, presaged) If something presages a situation or event, it is considered to be a warning or sign of what is about to happen. (FORMAL) ...the dawn's loud chorus that seemed to presage a bright hot summer's day. VERB: V n

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

I. v. a. 1. Forebode, divine, foreknow, have a presentiment of. 2. Foretell, predict, prophesy, soothsay, bode, portend, foreshow, indicate, betoken, foretoken, prognosticate, augur. See vaticinate. II. n. 1. Omen, sign, prognostic, augury, portent, token, boding, foreshowing, indication, auspice. 2. Prophecy, prediction, foreboding, premonition, foreknowledge, presentiment.

Moby Thesaurus

actuarial prediction, adumbrate, apocalypse, apprehensiveness, augur, augury, auspicate, bespeak, betoken, bode, boding, cast a horoscope, cast a nativity, clairvoyance, divine, dope, dope out, dowse for water, forebode, foreboding, forecast, forecasting, forefeeling, foreknowing, foreknowledge, forerun, foresee, foreseeability, foreshadow, foreshow, foreshowing, foresight, foretell, foretelling, foretoken, forewisdom, fortune-tell, guess, guesswork, harbinger, hariolate, have a hunch, have an intimation, herald, hunch, improbability, indicate, make a prediction, make a prognosis, make a prophecy, misgiving, omen, portend, portent, preapprehension, precognition, predict, prediction, prefiguration, prefigure, prefigurement, prefiguring, preindicate, premonition, prenotion, presagement, presaging, prescience, presentiment, preshowing, presignifying, probability, prognosis, prognostic, prognosticate, prognostication, promise, prophecy, prophesy, prophesying, prospectus, read palms, read tea leaves, read the future, shadow, shadow forth, soothsay, speculate, speculation, statistical prediction, tell fortunes, tell the future, vaticinate, vaticination