betoken
Americanverb (used with object)
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to give evidence of; indicate.
to betoken one's fidelity with a vow; a kiss that betokens one's affection.
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to be or give a token or sign of; portend.
a thunderclap that betokens foul weather; an angry word that betokens hostility.
verb
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to indicate; signify
black clothes betoken mourning
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to portend; augur
Etymology
Origin of betoken
First recorded in 1125–75, betoken is from the Middle English word bitocnen, bitacnen. See be-, token
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
And though releasing a series in the last week of the year doesn’t exactly betoken confidence, I can predict with some confidence that there might be one.
From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 26, 2025
This “Cyrano” centers the freedom that new forms of drama betoken, and all the ways that the writing of the past can feed them — from Rostand to Emily Dickinson.
From Washington Post • Apr. 14, 2022
Banks employ armies of people in back offices, looking for discrepancies that may betoken fraud or honest error.
From Economist • Mar. 22, 2018
In electoral politics, likewise: a successful re-election that seemed to betoken a sustained realignment for the Democrats.
From Seattle Times • Jan. 19, 2017
Good Ploughland.—All rejection and negation betoken a deficiency in fertility.
From Human, All-Too-Human, Part II by Nietzsche, Friedrich Wilhelm
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
