foretell
English edit
Alternative forms edit
Etymology edit
c. 1300, from Middle English foretellen, equivalent to fore- + tell.
Pronunciation edit
- enPR: fôr-tĕlʹ, IPA(key): /fɔɹˈtɛl/
- (General Australian) IPA(key): [foː.ˈteɫ]
- (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): [fɔː.ˈtɛɫ]
- (US) IPA(key): [fɔɹ.ˈtɛɫ]
Audio (US) (file)
- Rhymes: -ɛl
- Hyphenation: fore‧tell
Verb edit
foretell (third-person singular simple present foretells, present participle foretelling, simple past and past participle foretold)
- (transitive, intransitive) To predict; to tell (the future) before it occurs; to prophesy.
- 1725–1726, Homer, “Book 2”, in [William Broome, Elijah Fenton, and Alexander Pope], transl., The Odyssey of Homer. […], London: […] Bernard Lintot, →OCLC:
- Deeds then undone me faithful tongue foretold.
- 1741, Conyers Middleton, The Life of Cicero:
- Prodigies, foretelling the future eminence and lustre of his character.
- (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 edit
Derived terms edit
Related terms edit
Translations edit
to predict the future
See also edit
References edit
- “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.