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boding

[boh-ding]
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noun
  1. a foreboding; omen.
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adjective
  1. foreboding; ominous.
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Origin of boding

before 1000; (noun) Middle English; Old English bodunge announcement (see bode1, -ing1); (adj.) bode1 + -ing2
Related formsbod·ing·ly, adverbnon·bod·ing, adjectivenon·bod·ing·ly, adverbpre·bod·ing, adjectiveun·bod·ing, adjectivewell-bod·ing, adjective

bode1

[bohd]
verb (used with object), bod·ed, bod·ing.
  1. to be an omen of; portend: The news bodes evil days for him.
  2. Archaic. to announce beforehand; predict.
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verb (used without object), bod·ed, bod·ing.
  1. to portend: The news bodes well for him.
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Origin of bode1

before 1000; Middle English boden, Old English bodian to announce, foretell (cognate with Old Norse botha), derivative of boda messenger, cognate with German Bote, Old Norse bothi

bode2

[bohd]
verb
  1. a simple past tense of bide.
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Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for boding

Historical Examples

  • The time was spent in angry altercation, boding no good for the future.

    Short Studies on Great Subjects

    James Anthony Froude

  • Suddenly Mayo saw an ominous sight and heard a boding sound.

  • An answer that fills me with boding apprehension, with foreshadows of despair.

    Past and Present

    Thomas Carlyle

  • The boding speech appears like a prophecy, on the instant realised.

  • The doctor, peering after him with strange, sad eyes, shook a boding head.

    Cursed

    George Allan England

British Dictionary definitions for boding

bode1

verb
  1. to be an omen of (good or ill, esp of ill); portend; presage
  2. (tr) archaic to predict; foretell
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Derived Formsboding, noun, adjectivebodement, noun

Word Origin

Old English bodian; related to Old Norse botha to proclaim, Old Frisian bodia to invite

bode2

verb
  1. the past tense of bide
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Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for boding

bode

v.

Old English bodian "proclaim, announce; foretell," from boda "messenger," probably from Proto-Germanic *budon- (cf. Old Saxon gibod, German gebot, Old Norse boð), from PIE *bheudh- "be aware, make aware" (see bid (v.)). As a shortened form of forebode (usually evil), it dates from 1740. Related: Boded; boding.

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper