foretell

English

Etymology

c. 1300, from Middle English foretellen, equivalent to fore- +‎ tell.

Pronunciation

• enPR: fôr-tĕlʹ, IPA^(key): /fɔɹˈtɛl/
  • IPA^(key): [foː.ˈteɫ]
  • IPA^(key): [fɔː.ˈtɛɫ]
  • IPA^(key): [fɔɹ.ˈtɛɫ]

  • Audio (US):

    (file)

• Rhymes: -ɛl
• Hyphenation: fore‧tell

Verb

foretell (third-person singular simple present foretells, present participle foretelling, simple past and past participle foretold)

1. (transitive, intransitive) To predict; to tell (the future) before it occurs; to prophesy.
   • (Can we date this quote by Alexander Pope and provide title, author’s full name, and other details?)

     Deeds then undone my faithful tongue foretold.

   • (Can we date this quote by C. Middleton and provide title, author’s full name, and other details?)

     Prodigies, foretelling the future eminence and lustre of his character.

2. (transitive) To tell (a person) of the future.
   • 1739, Edward Button, Rudiments of Ancient History:

     […] there came to him a Person named Saul, whom Samuel had never before seen; but God made him know it was the same he had foretold him of.

Synonyms

• foresay
• forespeak

Derived terms

• foretellable
• foreteller

Related terms

• foretale

Translations

to predict the future

• Bulgarian: предсказвам (bg) (predskazvam), предричам (bg) (predričam)
• Danish: forudsige
• Dutch: voorspellen (nl)
• Egyptian: (sr)
• Esperanto: antaŭanonci
• Finnish: ennustaa (fi), nähdä ennalta
• French: prédire (fr)
• Galician: predicir, prever, adiviñar (gl)
• German: vorhersagen (de)
• Greek:

  Ancient: θεσπίζω (thespízō), προθεσπίζω (prothespízō)

• Indonesian: meramal (1), meramalkan (1)
• Italian: predire (it), prevedere (it)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Japanese: 予言する (よげんする, yogen-suru) (1)a
• Khmer: ចាប់យាម (cap yiem)
• Latin: praedico (la), divino, praeloquor, ōminor, cano (la), vaticinor
• Maori: matakite, poropiti
• Norwegian: forutsi (no)
• Polish: przepowiadać (pl), przepowiedzieć (pl)
• Portuguese: prever (pt)
• Russian: предска́зывать (ru) (predskázyvatʹ)
• Spanish: predecir (es), pronosticar (es), vaticinar (es)
• Swedish: förutspå (sv), förutsäga (sv)
• Volapük: büosagön (vo)

See also

• forecast
• foresee
• forewarn

References

• “foretell”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.
• “foretell”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.

Anagrams

• toll-free, tollfree