forethought

English

Etymology

From Middle English forethouht, forethoght, from Old English *foreþōht (“forethought”); equivalent to fore- +‎ thought. See also forethink.

Pronunciation

• (noun) IPA^(key): /ˈfɔː(ɹ)θɔːt/
• (adjective, verb) IPA^(key): /fɔː(ɹ)ˈθɔːt/
• (adjective, verb) Rhymes: -ɔːt

Noun

forethought (countable and uncountable, plural forethoughts)

1. Thinking beforehand or in advance, planning; prior or previous consideration; premeditation.

   With a little forethought we'd have planned for this contingency and not been stuck here now.

2. Anticipation.
3. Provident care; prudence.

Derived terms

• forethoughtful

Translations

thinking beforehand

• Bulgarian: преднамереност (bg) f (prednamerenost)
• Finnish: ennakointi (fi), kauaskatseisuus
• Greek:

  Ancient: προμήθεια f (promḗtheia), πρόνοια f (prónoia)

• Icelandic: fyrirhyggja (is) f
• Latin: praecogitatio f
• Macedonian: премисла f (premisla)
• Malayalam: മുൻവിചാരം (ml) (muṉvicāraṁ)
• Russian: предусмотрительность (ru) (predusmotritelʹnostʹ)
• Turkish: ihtiyat (tr) sg
• Ukrainian: продуманість f (produmanistʹ), обдуманість f (obdumanistʹ)

anticipation

• Finnish: ennakointi (fi)
• Ukrainian: передбачливість (uk) f (peredbačlyvistʹ)

provident care

• Bulgarian: предвидливост (bg) (predvidlivost)
• Finnish: järki (fi), järkevyys (fi)

Adjective

forethought (not comparable)

1. Thought of, or planned, beforehand.
   • c. 1613–1621, Francis Bacon, The judicial charge upon the commission of Oyer and Terminer held for the verge of the Court

     Forethought malice.

   Synonyms: aforethought, premeditated

Verb

forethought

1. simple past and past participle of forethink