forewarning

English

Etymology 1

From forewarn +‎ -ing.

Verb

forewarning

1. present participle and gerund of forewarn

Etymology 2

From Middle English forwarning, equivalent to forewarn +‎ -ing. Cognate with German Vorwarnung (“forewarning”), Swedish förvarning (“forewarning”).

Noun

forewarning (countable and uncountable, plural forewarnings)

1. An advance warning; an omen.
   • 1831, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], chapter V, in Romance and Reality. […], volume III, London: Henry Colburn and Richard Bentley, […], →OCLC, page 94:

     Beatrice knew his footstep at a distance that might have defied even the acute listener of the fairy tale; and yet, with even such long forewarning, would blush crimson deep on his entrance.

   • 1936 July, John Buchan, “Lost Gods”, in The Island of Sheep, London: Hodder and Stoughton, published July 1938, →OCLC, part I (Fosse), page 11:

     I have never believed, as some people do, in omens and forewarnings, for the dramatic things in my life have generally come upon me as suddenly as a tropical thunder-storm.

   • 2023, Erhard S. Gerstenberger, “Finding (or Missing) God and Meaning in Suffering”, in Michael G. Maness, Kevaughn Mattis, editors, Can You Hear My Pain Now?: Making Pastoral Theology Relevant in the Modern World, Wipf & Stock, →ISBN, part three (Pastoral Theology in Human Suffering), page 314:

     For many humans, life does end abruptly, without much forewarning.

Synonyms

• premonition

Translations

advance warning

• Portuguese: pré-aviso