portent

[ pawr-tent, pohr- ]

noun

1. an indication or omen of something about to happen, especially something momentous.

   Synonyms: warning, augury

2. threatening or disquieting significance:

   an occurrence of dire portent.

   Synonyms: import

3. a prodigy or marvel.

portent

/ ˈpɔːtɛnt /

noun

1. a sign or indication of a future event, esp a momentous or calamitous one; omen
2. momentous or ominous significance

   a cry of dire portent

3. a miraculous occurrence; marvel

Word History and Origins

Origin of portent¹

First recorded in 1555–65; from Latin portentum “sign, token,” noun use of neuter of portentus, past participle of portendere “to signify, presage, portend”; portend

Word History and Origins

Origin of portent¹

C16: from Latin portentum sign, omen, from portendere to portend

Synonym Study

See sign.

Example Sentences

Instead, the book seems to grapple with the question of how humanity deals with horrifying, large-scale change—and particularly, how complacency can outlast even the most obvious portents of disaster.

From Outside Online

Amateur prognosticators, freelance seers, searchers for signs and pursuers of portents may regard Friday, which started the new year, with special scrutiny.

From Washington Post

If Cutler’s optimism is a portent of things to come, it may not be long before the ocean floor is dotted with sustainable datacenters to feed our ever-increasing reliance on our phones and the internet.

From Singularity Hub 

At times, it seemed Leonard was awaiting a portent or an omen.

From The Daily Beast

Is this a passing phase or a portent of something more serious?

From The Daily Beast

In Moscow, the cynics are the ones opposing the regime while the idealists are the ones still working for it: another bad portent.

From The Daily Beast

As the great commentator, the Ramban, teaches, “everything that happened to the Patriarchs is a portent for the children.”

From The Daily Beast

And the use of reverberating metallic sound effects to imbue every other moment with sinister portent gets tedious after awhile.

From The Daily Beast

It sounds ominously amid the stillness, like the portent of some calamity, horrible and sudden.

From Project Gutenberg

Should purchases and rumoured purchases of land prove to be a portent, Dafydd had all to lose and nothing to gain by change.

From Project Gutenberg

The silence without was only portent of the storm so soon to burst.

From Project Gutenberg

It was because he was a failure in literature that he became a portent in English history.

From Project Gutenberg

There was some hidden portent in her tone which Jarvis failed to divine.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• harbinger
• omen
• premonition