boding

[boh-ding]

noun

a foreboding; omen.

adjective

foreboding; ominous.

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

bode

[bohd]

verb (used with object), bod·ed, bod·ing.

to be an omen of; portend: The news bodes evil days for him.
Archaic. to announce beforehand; predict.

verb (used without object), bod·ed, bod·ing.

to portend: The news bodes well for him.

Origin of bode

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

bode

[bohd]

verb

a simple past tense of bide.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words for boding

signify, omen, offer, predict, stop, betoken, forecast, herald, indicate, forebode, foretell, augur, message, portend, presage, foreshow

Examples from the Web for boding

Historical Examples of boding

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.
Blow The Man Down
Holman Day
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 Flag of Distress
Mayne Reid
The doctor, peering after him with strange, sad eyes, shook a boding head.
Cursed
George Allan England

British Dictionary definitions for boding

bode

verb

to be an omen of (good or ill, esp of ill); portend; presage
(tr) archaic to predict; foretell

Derived Formsboding, noun, adjectivebodement, noun

Word Origin for bode

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

bode

verb

the past tense of bide

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

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.