presage means A warning of a future event; an omen. It carries an Arena rating of 1502, earned across 2 head-to-head judged battles.
Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, presage ranks #1,823 of 14,297 for Best Fossil-Poetry Words, #2,317 of 14,444 for Most Exacting Words, #2,338 of 14,361 for Most Ingenious Words, #2,350 of 14,448 for Most Incisive Words.
presage is pronounced /ˈpɹɛsɪdʒ/.
Why “presage” is a great word
A sign or warning of a future event, or the act of foretelling one, derived from Middle English presage (14th century), from Latin praesāgium ("prophetic sign, omen"), from praesāgus ("foreboding"), from prae- ("before") and sagus ("prophetic"). Unlike “forecast,” which implies a reasoned prediction from data, or “portend,” which often leans toward the ominous, a presage is an intuitive reading of a fragment. It is the sudden silence of birds before an earthquake, the particular stillness that precedes a storm, or the way a single line in a letter can suddenly darken the sun—quiet messengers from a future not yet written, teaching us that time has already happened elsewhere, and we are merely catching up.
Etymology
From Middle English presage, from Latin praesāgium.
noun
- A warning of a future event; an omen.“Speak frankly, Mirzes—nor believe thy words, / Whatever black preſages they contain, / Subjoin'd to all Trophonius hath foretold, / Can change my firm reſolves, or blunt my ſword.”
- An intuition of a future event; a presentiment.“Glad was I when I reached the other bank. / Now for a better country. Vain presage!”
verb
- To predict or foretell something.“If I may truſt the flattering truth of ſleepe, / My dreames preſage ſome ioyfull newes at hand : / My boſomes L. ſits lightly in his throne : / And all this day an vnaccuſtom’d ſpirit, / Lifts me aboue the ground with cheatfull thoughts […]”
- To make a prediction.
- To have a presentiment of; to feel beforehand; to foreknow.
Words closest in meaning
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