portend
Definition from Wiktionary, the free dictionary
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English [edit]
Etymology [edit]
From the Latin portendere (“to foretell”), from por- (“forward”) + tendere (“to stretch”), present active infinitive of tendo.
Pronunciation [edit]
Verb [edit]
portend (third-person singular simple present portends, present participle portending, simple past and past participle portended)
- (transitive) to serve as a warning or omen
- A kingdom they portend thee, but what kingdom, / Real or allegoric, I discern not; Nor when: eternal sure--as without end, - John Milton, Paradise Lost
- (transitive) to signify; to denote
- Let it be known that the Rapture portends the End of Days.
- 2012 June 26, Genevieve Koski, “Music: Reviews: Justin Bieber: Believe”, The Onion AV Club:
- When the staccato, Neptunes-ian single “Boyfriend” was released in March, musical prognosticators were quick to peg the album it portended, Believe, as Justin Bieber’s Justified, a grown-and-sexy, R&B-centric departure that evolved millennial teenybopper Justin Timberlake into one of the unifying pop-music figures of the aughts.
Synonyms [edit]
Related terms [edit]
Translations [edit]
to serve as a warning or omen
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to signify
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